Saiyans Lost
by Pleeai
Summary: Vegeta awakens in the middle of the night as he remembers some long ago exiled Saiyans that had been sent to earth. Working on reformatting, got the first couple chapters done.
1. Default Chapter

Vegeta awoke in the middle of the night with the remnants of an odd dream/memory still lingering in his thoughts. He smirked and shot out of bed. He had to wake that annoying woman up.

The first star was blinking in the sky as Vegeta scanned the city beneath him. He held one hand to the improvised scouter on his ear, watching numbers flash across the small blue screen. There was a small flash, but nothing higher than an above average earthling would give off.

"Uh, Vegeta?"

He turned his head and looked over his shoulder at the brat behind him. "What? Can't you see that I'm busy?"

Gohan broke eye contact and looked at the ant-like people in the town the two men hovered over. "Uh, would you mind explaining why we're here?"

Vegeta regarded the young half-Saiyan for a long, silent moment. He finally turned away and continued his slow span across the town. "I told you. I remembered hearing about a Saiyan couple being exiled to Earth when I was younger. If they survived, as they surely would on a planet of such weaklings, they could have had children."

"You mean there might be more full-blooded Saiyans still alive?"

"Exactly! Now shut up! I think I've found . . . There! C'mon!"

Vegeta took off like a shot and Gohan took a second to follow. They stopped above a nice-looking house that was surrounded by a low wall. There was a boy in the back yard, staring into a small Koi pond. He looked several years older than Gohan, but not really an adult. He had black hair tied into a pigtail, and wore Chinese clothes that were very familiar to young Gohan. He was standing next to the pond with a thoughtful expression, arms crossed over his chest. He cocked his head, but seemed so deep in thought that he hadn't noticed his aerial spectators. Vegeta was fiddling with the controls on the scouter, suddenly letting out a frustrated snarl.

"Grr. I'll have to get closer!"

"Why? Is he the Saiyan?"

"Could be. Bulma made this thing able to detect patterns in Saiyan blood, but I'll have to get a lot closer for a definite reading."

There was another bleep as a new power appeared on the small screen. Vegeta was going to locate the power when a scream ripped through the quiet of the late-spring afternoon.

"Soatome Ranma! Prepare to die!"

Gohan and Vegeta watched as a new boy, this one with no pigtail and yellow clothes, jumped over the wall of the house. He landed in the grass of the backyard, unsheathing a large red umbrella at the same time. As he jumped at the startled boy, this newcomer pulled the umbrella over his head in a firm, two-handed grip.

Vegeta snarled out quickly, "Protect the boy in red!"

Gohan barely thought, nearly absently obeying the older fighter. He shot to the ground, landing directly in front of the pigtailed boy. Vegeta intercepted the umbrella boy mid-air, catching the tip of the umbrella with his left hand. The boy blinked from beneath his shaggy hair and spotted bandanna. His surprise at being interrupted turned to anger as he shouted, "What do you think you're doing? This is a man to man duel!"

He suddenly realized that he'd been in the middle of a jump. He looked above his head, where his hands still gripped the umbrella, and followed his body down to his feet. He blinked once more when he saw his feet hanging uselessly several yards above the ground. There was nothing holding either him, or the strange man in front of him, up. He made brief eye contact with the spiky-haired guy. Then he let go of the umbrella and felt himself dropping to the ground. He did a quick flip, slipping his pack off as he fell. He landed barehanded, unarmed, and in a fighting stance, with his opponent still in the air yards above him.

Ryoga blinked up at the guy, wondering why he was blinking so much. He dismissed it, after all,  
it wasn't everyday someone appeared from nowhere and held a teenager, metal-lined umbrella, and a huge travel pack several feet above ground.

"Hey, Ryoga, friends of yours?"

Ryoga glared at Ranma, "I thought they were here to kill you. Everyone else is."

Ranma, with the pigtail, frowned. "Not everyone!"

Ryoga frowned at his rival, thinking of Akane. Then he heard a beep and looked back at the guy with the weird hair. He was poking the thing on his ear and staring at Ryoga through the little blue screen over his left eye. 

Vegeta turned to Gohan, "It's not him. I'll try the other one." Ryoga, who wasn't used to being so easily dismissed by anyone but Ranma, visibly slumped. Ranma misunderstood and, looking slightly worried, glanced rapidly between his friend and the guy with the blue thing. When Vegeta tried to settle the screen on Ranma, the boy jumped to the side. He kept evading the man's gaze until he'd worked himself next to Ryoga.

"You okay man?"

Ryoga glared at Ranma, "What are you talking about? He didn't even try to hit me. Not that it would matter, mind you."

Vegeta was adjusting the scouter when another voice came from the house. "Ranma! Where are you?" Both boys paled, realizing that the two strangers were between them and the house, just as Akane stepped onto the porch. She let the angry frown fade as she studied the two strange men. Ranma and Ryoga yelled as one, "Akane! Look out!" They jumped over the heads of the two weirdos to land between Akane and the two threats. Vegeta and Gohan watched idly, not terribly impressed by the minor acrobatics.

Vegeta frowned and reached for the scouter once more. Ranma tensed and prepared to dodge when he felt another presence come up behind him. There was a loud gasp before Genma rushed past his son and Ryoga. Genma fell to his knees before Vegeta, bowing and scraping. "My lord, at long last you've come. Nodoka and I have waited so long, knowing the exile would be withdrawn!"

Vegeta frowned at the tubby man lying before him. "I take it you are Tomegen who was exiled from Vejitsa for laziness in your training?" Genma sweat-dropped and remained silent with his nose pressed to the grass. Ranma and Ryoga exchanged glances. Sure, Genma was crazy, but he took the art seriously. Ranma stepped forward slightly.

"So you know pop? What's this Tomato name you called him?"

Vegeta frowned once more, turning his attention to the boy. "Tomegen is his proper name. I never will understand why every Saiyan exiled to Earth takes a foolish name. First Kakarot, now Tomegen."

Ryoga seemed extremely puzzled, while Ranma was worried. Every time someone showed up from his or his father's past, it meant trouble for him. Gohan was getting bored, and watched the puzzled Akane since the men in the yard were all boring. Akane frowned and poked Ranma's back to get his attention.

"What have you done now, Ranma?"

Ranma spun around to retort. Vegeta, seeing his chance, began to fiddle with the scouter's controls. "I didn't do anything! This guy just showed up and grabbed Ryoga out of the air before you came out and yelled at me!"

"Oh really? Than why does he know your dad? He isn't going to try and kill you, is he? He doesn't seem to like your dad, and everybody else wants to kill or marry you."

"What's it matter to you? Are you worried or something?"

"No! It just gets annoying when a houseguest is the reason I keep getting kidnapped all the time."

Ranma glared down at her, "Well, I—"

"It's him! He is a full-blooded Saiyan after all!"

Genma looked insulted, "Of course! Why would

Nodoka or I breed with the lowly Earthlings? Of course, my son had no choice, so we had to arrange things for him, but with my Nodoka there—"

"Oh shut up!" Vegeta sent a kick to Genma's side and the man flew over and past the Koi pond to land in a heap. Vegeta turned to look at Ranma with an appraising stare. He took a step toward the youth when Nabiki stepped onto the porch.

"What did you do this time Ranma?"

Ranma shot a glare at Nabiki before looking back at Vegeta. The Saiyan prince smirked and crossed his arms across his chest.

"You're lucky, boy. I've decided to take you with me to train. As the last full Saiyan, it is only right that your prince be in charge of your training."

"Prince? What are you talking about? I'm not going anywhere!"

Genma instantly appeared behind his son, practically throwing him to Vegeta. "Obey Prince Vegeta, son. You are truly honored indeed . . . wait! Last full Saiyan, what do you mean?"

Vegeta caught Ranma by the collar and answered quickly, "The planet and all but six Saiyans was blown up. Two of the six have been killed, leaving you and your wife, Kakarot, and me. Now, we have your son. Do you have any other offspring?"

"Alas, no. I suppose this means Nodoka and I won't be going home then."

Vegeta just gave him an annoyed look and turned to go. Gohan sighed and prepared to leave as well. He wasn't at all happy with how things were going. Nabiki raised one eyebrow and glanced askance at her younger sister. "Are you just going to let him take your fiancé Akane?"

"Nabiki!"

Vegeta whipped around to study the two girls. Ranma squirmed and tried to break free, but only succeeded in nearly choking himself. Vegeta then turned to the slightly battered Genma. "Is the boy truly engaged to the earthling?"

Genma stood taller and tried to muster some dignity. "Nodoka and I felt strongly that our blood needed to be secured as quickly as possible, so I saw to it that he was engaged to a strong Earth bloodline." He somehow managed to finish the entire statement over the gasping and choking sounds from his son.

Vegeta spared Ranma an annoyed glance before hitting the boy on the forehead. Ranma slumped forward, and Vegeta slung him over his shoulder. Akane bit back a gasp, but Vegeta turned to her anyway.

"Gohan, grab the girl. She's coming too."

"What?"

Akane's scream didn't faze Vegeta, but Gohan didn't seem happy about it. He looked between Akane and Vegeta, but the stony glare from the latter spurred him to approach the shocked girl. While she stared angrily at Vegeta, Gohan gathered energy. He flew beneath her, putting one arm behind her shoulders and drawing her knees up with the other.

By the time Akane tried to fight, they were flying above the dojo, Vegeta (who was holding an unconscious Ranma) hovering next to them. Akane gasped and tightened her grip on the boy's neck,  
wondering when she'd grabbed him. Akane looked down to the yard, meeting her sister's eyes. Nabiki realized that her stupid comment had caused her baby sister to be kidnapped. Again. All eyes on the flying people, only Akane noticed the lone tear slip down Nabiki's cheek. Vegeta's strong voice carried to the crowd below.

"I'll train the children for now. When they are able, I'll permit them occasional visits." With that simple statement, Vegeta turned and took off at a blinding speed. Gohan turned and joined him. He pulled up even with the older man, a worried expression on his face.

"Uh, Vegeta? Where are we going exactly?"

"Capsule Corp., where else?"

"Well, since we basically just kidnapped two people, shouldn't we go somewhere outside of Japan?"

Vegeta frowned slightly in thought for a brief moment before changing directions.

"Where are you going now?"

"Your house. China is far enough away for you I hope?" Akane gasped slightly. China? They were flying to China? Any other girl (aside from Ukyo or Shampoo) probably would have fainted, but Akane was too worried about getting away. She watched Ranma's slack face for signs of life; hoping he'd wake up soon.

Ranma scrunched his face up slightly, squeezing his eyes tightly shut until a brief wave of pain passed. He then slowly opened his eyes and looked around. His face was pressed into the short man's (Vegeta?) back. He looked up to see Akane in the arms of the little boy, the two of them flying behind Vegeta and Ranma.

Ranma blinked. They were flying? Then he remembered Vegeta holding the tip of Ryoga's umbrella, the lost boy hanging beneath it by both arms. Okay, a flying opponent. So what? He was Soatome Ranma, and he could handle anything.

He felt them dropping slightly. Good, they were landing. First things first, he and Akane had to get to the ground and get away. He met Akane's relieved eyes and glanced at the boy holding her. Gohan was looking straight ahead with a focused look on his face. Ranma looked back to Akane and made a series of gestures.

First he pointed to himself, then Akane. Then he pointed to the ground. He softly threw a punch into his other hand and pointed to Vegeta. Akane nodded minutely, and he held up one finger, then two, then three.

As one, they moved. Ranma focused ki into a super punch aimed at Vegeta's lower back. Vegeta gave a soft grunt and let his grip loosen slightly. It was just enough, and Ranma felt himself falling after kicking off.

Akane's job was easier. Gohan was so worried about what his mother was going to say, that his grip had been gradually slacking as they flew. Akane merely had to arch her back and push herself over and past his arms. She realized too late that pushing herself backwards like that meant that she was now falling headfirst. She flipped and righted herself. Then she looked down and realized that although they had lowered considerably toward the ground, they were still a ways above the grassy field below. Her eyes widened briefly in fright before she glared at Ranma, who was falling next to her.

"Ranma! You are such an idiot!"

"Hey! You didn't have to jump too." He reached out and grabbed her, tucking her up tightly against him as he watched the ground's fast approach.

Vegeta and Gohan stared as the duo fell to Earth. Gohan looked up to Vegeta and said, "Why aren't they flying yet? He's a Saiyan, shouldn't he be able to fly?" A sudden thought came to Vegeta. Like the boy, he'd been of the mind that a Saiyan that old would assuredly be capable of flight. Then he remembered part of the reason Nodoka and Tomegen had been exiled.

"Argh! I forgot! Tomegen was so lazy, he didn't bother learning to fly!" Vegeta jerked his head down to the two teenagers just as Ranma hit the ground.

Ranma saw the ground and timed his landing. He pressed his feet beneath him and kept them loose enough that they wouldn't break, but locked enough that the two of them wouldn't slam into the ground. He hit and rolled, coming out of the roll running with Akane still in his arms. Now that they were safely on the ground, he looked for somewhere to drop Akane so he could fight the flying menaces. Straight-ahead was a house, and Ranma slowed. They had been landing when he and Akane jumped. Was this their destination? If so, they'd find no help there.

Just then, the door of the dome-like house opened, and a woman in a purple dress stepped out. She blinked at Ranma in surprise, and he jerked to a halt. He spun around, prepared to take off again,  
but Vegeta and the boy were standing right in front of him.

"Argh! Why do I always get all the bad luck?"

Vegeta frowned at the boy in his usual pose, arms crossed and feet widespread. "If you're quite finished, we can get started." Ranma remembered something about training, and was expecting something tough any second. If this guy was anything like his father, the training would be hard to survive. He half turned to put Akane behind him. Keeping his eyes on Vegeta, he whispered to her.

"Watch the woman in the house, I'll take care of the guy."

She nodded, knowing he wouldn't see it, and took a stance facing the woman with the black hair. That same woman was giving her a curious look before calling out to the boy.

"Gohan? What's going on?"

"UH, hi Mom. Well, Vegeta remembered that there might be more Saiyans on Earth, and took me to help find them. Ranma there is a full-blooded Saiyan."

Chi-chi looked to the pig-tailed boy, but could only see his tense back. She rolled her eyes, "Yea,  
another one."

Ranma narrowed his eyes and focused on Vegeta.

"Now do you mind explaining a few things?"

Vegeta raised one brow and gave a casual wave, "Such as?"

Ranma blinked once before figuring out what was most prevalent to know. "Well for starters, what's a Saiyan?"

"I take it your father was as lacking in teaching you your heritage as he was in your training. Very well, you are a Saiyan. The Saiyans were a noble race of warriors until they were nearly wiped out when I was a boy."

"The man that destroyed my people and planet, for I was heir to the throne, has been killed by a fellow survivor named Kakarot."

Gohan nodded and interrupted, "That's my dad. We call him Goku here on Earth though." Vegeta shot the boy an annoyed glance before continuing.

"Until recently we believed that Kakarot and I were the last full-blooded Saiyans alive. Then I remembered hearing about Tomegen and his fiancée being exiled to Earth when I was a boy."

Ranma looked between Vegeta and Gohan carefully, "So being Saiyan lets you two fly?"

Vegeta was getting more annoyed by the moment.

"No! Any truly good fighter can fly once they master their ki. Even some lowly earthlings have learned to fly."

Ranma pointed to Gohan, "And you're not fully Saiyan?"

"Nope. Mom's an earthling." He pointed to Chi-chi helpfully.

"Then why are Akane and I here?"

"So that I can complete your training, where that buffoon you call your father has obviously failed."

"Hey! I happen to be undefeated so far!"

Vegeta scoffed. "You can't even fly boy. Krillin could beat you right now."

Ranma's eyes widened. "Krillin? The Krillin?"

"What do you mean 'the Krillin'?"

Akane added from behind Ranma, "Everyone knows who Krillin is. He's the best fighter on the planet!"

"Maybe the best human on the planet, but not the best fighter. He can't even hit me!" Ranma sent him a disbelieving look before turning to Gohan. "Do you guys really know Krillin?"

"You bet! I think he's coming for dinner tonight. But Vegeta's right, Krillin isn't even close to being as good as him, or even me."

"You can beat Krillin? You're just a kid!"

Vegeta smirked again from beside Gohan. "The kid could beat you with both hands tied behind his back."

Ranma stood tall and jerked a thumb to his chest. "I'd like to see a little kid defeat Soatome Ranma!"

"How about it Gohan, care to spar with him?"

Chi-chi would have protested, but Gohan jumped at the chance. "Sure! After spending the whole day wandering around looking for power readings, I could use a quick fight."

Ranma didn't give his usual confident smirk. He'd seen the little boy flying around easily, and Vegeta was confident of Gohan winning. This could be a challenge after all. He and Gohan separated from the rest of the group, Chi-chi standing by worriedly. Ranma took a loose stance, ready for anything, and going on the offensive in hopes of a quick win.

Gohan turned sideways and lifted his fists, but didn't really take a stance. Ranma's brows drew downward in concentration.

Akane was standing far enough from Vegeta to feel safe, but close enough to help Ranma if she had to. She felt someone standing next to her and turned to notice the woman in the purple dress. She wore a worried expression equal to Akane's, so Akane didn't comment. Akane saw the tightly focused expression on Ranma's face and was worried. He was taking this seriously, which was already a bad sign. The two opponents stood regarding each other until an unseen signal sent them into action.

Ranma jumped forward and sent a quick combo that even Shampoo couldn't have dodged. Gohan wove left and right until Ranma pulled back. Ranma faked one way before sending another combination; this one mostly kicks, to the boy's right. Gohan just looked bored.

That's it, Ranma thought, Chestnut Fist it is.

He called out his attack, catching Gohan by surprise. Several hundred blows collided into the boy's chest, sending Gohan flying. Chi-chi gasped as Gohan hit the ground, but he simply stood up smiling.

"Not bad." He dusted a speck of dirt from the front of his purple outfit. "My turn!" Without warning, Gohan's happy demeanor faded into a seriousness that would frighten Ryoga. Ranma dodged several attacks before a kick to his ribs sent him flying toward Akane and Chi-chi. Chi-chi shoved Akane out of the way, then dodged herself. Ranma sat up almost immediately after landing.  
Akane was quickly kneeling beside him.

"That guy packs a harder punch than pig boy!"

"Are you okay Ranma?"

He felt around, wincing as he touched a rib. "Sore rib, that's all though."

He smiled up at Gohan. "Man you're good!"

Gohan blushed and dug at the ground with his toe. As he was about to speak, Vegeta jumped in.

"See how hard you're going to have to work? We'll start training tomorrow."

Vegeta turned to Chi-chi with a demeaning frown. "He'll stay here so her parents don't get any fool ideas about kidnapping."

He then turned and jumped into flight. Ranma and Akane marveled at the amazing aura that flared around him as he flew off. Chi-chi stomped her foot and put her hands on her hips. "Why I never! He could at least ask!"

She turned to study the two teens. "Now, what does he mean kidnapping?"

Akane glanced at Ranma, but he just shrugged, "Well, I guess since my Dad wasn't home when they took us, Vegeta didn't have his permission to bring me here. Dad will get all emotional and call the police if Uncle Soatome and Nabiki don't stop him."

Chi-chi turned to Ranma with a disbelieving look, "Are you really full-blooded Saiyan"  
"That's what they tell me. I didn't even know what one was until a few minutes ago"  
"Well, I suppose I'd better start dinner. Gohan hit the books! You two might as well come on in and help me."

Akane and Ranma looked at each other. Ranma suddenly had a frightening thought. "Uh, I don't think—I mean, since we were sort of dropped off on you, why don't I cook for you. You know, sort of paying for room and board and all that."

Akane gave him a strange look, and Chi-chi smiled. "How sweet! But I must warn you, Gohan eats quite a bit, and Krillin doesn't exactly have a supermodel's diet either."

"That's fine, I eat a lot too. Will it just be the five of us then?"

"That's all I'm expecting," she sighed, "But people generally drop by unannounced."

"Alright then. Akane? Why don't you keep Ms.—I didn't catch your name."

She smiled happily. "It's Mrs. Son, but you can just call me Chi-chi. Everyone does."

"Fine then, why don't you keep Chi-chi company while I whip something up, okay Akane?"

Akane nodded slowly in confusion and followed Chi-chi outside. Ranma sighed with relief as Akane left the kitchen. He'd give her some line about hoping she'd make Chi-chi more relaxed so he could find a way out of the whole mess.

He scanned the ingredients spread about the counter and started cooking.

Akane followed the odd woman outside and stood next to her in the grass. The Son family appeared to live in the middle of nowhere. "Why do you guys live so far out?"

Chi-chi smiled softly, "Goku never was very socially inclined. He has the most atrocious manners. Besides, it isn't easy to explain his particular style of workout to people, and hard to hide from a city of them."

"What do you mean, hard to hide?" Akane watched as Chi-chi started weeding a flowerbed, and decided to help.

"Well, he and the boys have a habit of throwing around Ki blasts that would totally destroy a few streets. It would be hard for people not to notice their homes blowing up. Not that Goku or Krillin would hurt anyone, mind you, but accidents do happen."

Akane blinked and watched in shock as Chi-chi calmly continued to weed. After several long seconds of silence, Akane started to tug the weeds out by the roots.

Ranma studied the table laid out with a large variety of food, all made by him. He nodded once before turning and stepping out the door. Akane and Chi-chi were walking toward the house, laughing and talking like old friends despite the age difference. Akane looked up and smiled at Ranma. He found himself smiling in return, and waved toward the table inside the odd house. "Dinner's ready whenever everyone shows up."

Akane turned and looked down the road. "I don't see anyone, so we probably have awhile." The long straight dirt road gave a lot of visibility, and they'd see any travelers from miles away.

Chi-chi waved nonchalantly, "Oh no, they'll be here any minute now." She cocked her head as if listening for something. "In fact, I think I hear someone right now."

Ranma and Akane shared a glance just as they both noticed the odd whooshing sound in the distance. They spun around to face the sound. They stood open-mouthed in shock as the well-known martial artist came into view.

Krillin landed next to Chi-chi, barely glancing at the teens. "Hiya Chi-chi. Sorry I'm late."

"That's alright Krillin. Meet Ranma and Akane. Ranma is supposedly a full Saiyan."

Krillin whipped around and stared wide-eyed at Ranma. He blinked and shuddered. "Just great,  
another one."

Ranma glared at the considerably shorter man. "Hey! And what is that supposed to mean?" Krillin scratched the back of his head and studied the ground. "Oh, sorry. I've just had some bad experiences with you guys."

"What do ya mean, 'you guys'? I just wish someone would explain what's going on!"

"The Saiyans were a warrior race on the planet Vegeta." Everyone turned to see Gohan come out of the house. "Freeza came and blew the planet up after kidnapping a very young Prince Vegeta. The only survivors were your parents, my father (who was sent here as a baby), Dad's brother (Who's now dead), Nappa (who was sent to the next dimension by Vegeta), and Vegeta himself."

"Then why are people so nervous about us?"

Gohan sighed, "The Saiyans are notoriously violent maniacs. Vegeta and Nappa came to Earth for the soul purpose of overthrowing the planet and—"

"Hey!" Akane was suddenly the center of attention. "Wasn't there something about that on TV? You know Ranma, that big publicity thing out in the desert with all the explosions and stuff."

Krillin gave her a stern look. "That was no publicity stunt. We could have been killed out there, and would have been if Goku hadn't shown up."

Ranma frowned, "If this guy's so great, where is he?"

Everyone suddenly got depressed. Gohan whispered, "We don't know. After Namek blew up, we wished everyone safe. But Dad didn't want to come supposedly, and said he'd meet us later. That was the last we heard from him."

Chi-chi was close to tears as she broke the subject. "So Ranma, what did you cook for us?" Krillin looked crestfallen, "You didn't cook Chi-chi?"

"Don't worry Krillin, I'm sure Ranma's a great cook."

They all piled into the oddly shaped house and sat around the table. Chi-chi and Krillin took the ends, with Gohan sitting on one side. Ranma and Akane took the other side, and both watched in amazement as Gohan ate with an appetite similar to Ranma's. When Krillin joined Gohan's peculiar dining habits, Ranma smiled.

"Alright!" He was soon digging in, causing Chi- chi and Akane to share an exasperated look.  
"That was great Ranma!" Krillin pushed away from the table, rubbing his full stomach in contentment.

Ranma stared at the famed fighter. "Thanks."

He just couldn't get over it. Sure, he was short, but he was the best fighter in the world. Well, the best human at least. Well, perhaps the best full-blooded human was the proper title. Chi-chi stood to clear the table when they all heard a familiar sound outside. Akane looked out in the general direction of the noise.

"Someone around here has an aircar?"

Chi-chi smiled at the younger girl. "Oh, it's probably Bulma. She comes by pretty often when she has the time."

"Oh." Aircars were pretty common in bigger cities, along with capsules that Capsule Corp.  
manufactured, but not in cramped little villages or old-fashioned places like Nerima. Sure, she'd seen them before and even rode in a couple aircars from capsules, but the Tendos didn't actually own any.

Chi-chi was already headed for the door with Krillin and Gohan, so Ranma and Akane followed.  
Just as they stepped outside, a small plane landed. The hatch opened and a young woman with short blue hair walked down the ramp.

"Where is he?" She didn't seem terribly happy to be visiting friends. She stopped at the bottom of the ramp, hands on hips, and frowned at the assembled group. Her hair was slightly rumpled and she had dark circles under her eyes.

Chi-chi cocked her head and frowned in confusion. "Where's who, Bulma?"

"Who else? That no good Saiyan wakes me up in the middle of the night and makes me build him a special scouter, then he disappears all day! I want to know what's going on here!"

Krillin raised one eyebrow and gave the newest arrival a long-suffering look. "Well, Bulma, if you'd stop yelling we might tell ya."

She blinked down at him, "You know what Vegeta's up to?"

Krillin smiled and gestured at Ranma. "Of course! He remembered more Saiyans and went looking for more pure breeds, so to speak."

"Hey! Quit talking about me like I'm some kind of dog or something."

Bulma looked at Ranma in a brief moment of confusion. "Wait a sec. You're a Saiyan?"

"That's what they tell me." Ranma sounded anything but pleased. "There I was minding my own business when Ryoga attacked. Before I knew it, Vegeta was holding Ryoga, his whole pack, and that heavy umbrella up in the air."

Bulma pulled back and studied him. "Well, you've got the customary black hair, but the blue eyes are new. And they found you in the middle of a fight. I never knew anyone but Goku to attract so much trouble. Did my scouter say you were Saiyan?"

Gohan nodded excitedly, "That's what Vegeta said. He tried it on that Ryoga guy too, but he was only human."

Ranma snorted, "It wouldn't surprise me if he was half elephant the way he lifts all that heavy gear halfway around the world."

Gohan gave him a questioning look. "What's wrong with a little weight training?"

Akane nudged Ranma when he started to make an annoying comment about poor Ryoga. "Nothing, but he has a tendency to get lost, so he does a lot of extra traveling."

Bulma held out a hand to stop the sideline conversations. "That explains why he woke me up,  
but why are you here? Where are you two from?"

Ranma pointed to his chest, "I've been traveling around and training my whole life. Akane's from Nerima, which is where I've been staying for awhile."

Bulma looked vaguely confused, "Then why are you here? Vegeta could have brought you to Capsule Corp. and it would have been a lot closer."

"Oh," Akane explained, "He kidnapped me and thought it would be safer to take me out of the country. Wait a sec, why Capsule Corp.?"

"My Dad and I run Capsule Corp. and that's where Vegeta is staying since his planet blew up and everything."

Akane blinked before shooting Bulma a conspiratorial glance. "Boy would my sister love to meet you! She's obsessed with money and business matters."

Ranma muttered about extortion and his wallet, causing Akane to sweatdrop. "Hee hee, anyway, I doubt it would have mattered. Genma seemed to want us to go with Vegeta, and Vegeta just dropped us off without even consulting Chi-chi. I don't think he cares who he inconveniences."

Gohan frowned in thought. "But why was he worried about the police anyway? It's not like they'd give him much trouble."

Bulma shrugged with an indifferent look. "Oh, he probably doesn't want his training interrupted.  
He's had Dad working on training aids ever since we let him move in."

Ranma and Akane glanced at each other, wondering what sorts of training aids these people would use.  
Bulma sighed. "Oh well. Mind if I hang out for awhile?"

Chi-chi smiled. "Of course not! I was just going to get to know our new friends and—wait! You two didn't bring anything at all with you, did you?"

Ranma shook his head, "Nah. Doesn't really matter though. I don't have much aside from a few more sets of clothes."

Akane frowned. "Maybe you don't, but I can't do any training in my school uniform! I may not be an alien, but I do know some martial arts."

Gohan smiled at her. "You're a fighter too?"

She blushed a little, "Well, I'm nowhere near as good as Ranma or any of our local champs, but I've done some training."

Ranma waved a hand at her. "She's being modest so she'll look better later. For someone who hasn't spent their whole life from morning till night training, she ain't bad."

Chi-chi gave Ranma a thoughtful look, missing the odd look his fiancée was giving him. "So Ranma,  
you lived like that? Training every day and all, so you didn't do much else?"

"Just about. I went to school when we stuck around the same place for any length of time, but the rest of the time the old man was training me constantly."

Gohan got a worried look at the determined gleam in his mother's eye. "I guess it will be better when we can get Akane's Dad to understand that she wasn't really truly kidnapped, so you two can go back to Japan and stay at Capsule Corp. Then you'll be close enough for Vegeta's 'training' and to keep going to school."

He glanced sideways to his mother, who lost a little of the spark in her dark eyes. He nearly sighed in relief as Ranma started to answer.

"I'd rather just train, but my Mom would have a cow if she found out that I passed up school." Chi-  
chi wondered at the sympathetic look that Akane shot him and the odd shudder that Ranma gave as he mentioned his mother.

Ranma and Akane followed Chi-chi down the hall.

"You can stay with Gohan, Ranma, and Akane can take the guestroom. Is that alright"  
They both nodded, and Chi-chi pointed out the rooms with a smile before heading back to the kitchen. Ranma followed Akane into the house's single guestroom and shut the door, leaving it open the barest of cracks.

"So what are we supposed to do Akane?"

She sat on the bed and looked up at him. "What are we supposed to do? Your dad wants you here.  
And, it will be easy to convince my dad when he realizes that your other fiancées won't be anywhere near us."

Ranma frowned. "I hadn't thought of that. I guess it's up to us then. I'd love to get the special training, but we don't know anything about any of these people."

Akane hid a smirk. "Except that they fly and a little boy beat you easily in a spar."

Ranma glared at her. "Gee thanks. But seriously, don't you think we should get out of here?" He sure did, if only to get her safe.

She shrugged, "Sure, but how? They'd just fly after us and drag us back."

An idea suddenly came to Ranma. "Not if they let us walk away!"

She scoffed and lay down, propping her head on her hands. "Sure Ranma, and how do plan to do that?"

In whispered tones, he moved closer and told her his idea. "They don't know about the curse. I'll sneak outside and change. Then I'll run back in and start yelling about how sick Mr. Tendo is and that I need to take you back quick."

She sat up and leaned closer. "That's not bad, but what if they offer to fly us back"  
Ranma thought quickly, "We'll wait until Krillin leaves and Gohan's asleep. Chi-chi won't wake him up if we tell her not to bother."

She smiled, "This just might work! By the time she realizes you're not here anymore, we can get some distance between us and find a good hiding spot! Actually, I remember seeing a town not far down that road outside."

"Perfect! Then all we have to do is kill some time." He cocked his ear and listened. "I think they're all downstairs talking still. Man, I'm thirsty."

It was almost eleven when Chi-chi finished her housework. She'd have been done a lot sooner, but she, Bulma, and Krillin had spent a long time discussing Ranma. She pitied the boy really. How awful to be living a perfectly normal childhood only to find out you're the descendent of aliens!  
She went to the living room to turn off a light and paused to stare out the window. She sighed at the sight of all those twinkling stars. Where was Goku?

Ranma listened carefully at the door to Gohan's room. The boy looked up sleepily.

"What's going on?"

Ranma waved his hands in front of his chest. "Nothing! Nothing, just go back to sleep. I'm getting a drink of water, that's all. See ya in the morning!" He quickly and quietly opened the door just wide enough to slip out. He closed the door and stared at it for a moment, but Gohan didn't follow. He sighed and crept down to the kitchen for a glass of water. All he had to do was take the glass just outside the front door long enough to change. Then it was easy enough to pound on the door, yelling for Akane. He half-filled a glass and took a careful sip to test the temperature. He nodded in satisfaction and turned to the door.

What followed wasn't all that clear to Ranma, but he thought that Chi-chi turned the corner and entered the kitchen, eyes on her clenched hands. Ranma was so surprised that she'd snuck up on him that he jerked, spilling a few drops of water on his arm.

Now a she, Ranma stared in horror as Chi-chi looked up and spotted him. Chi-chi gasped and her mouth opened and closed slightly before she gathered breath and let out a long scream.  
Ranma looked about in panic. He finally slumped his shoulders and groaned. "Why me"  
Before he knew it, Gohan was in the doorway, eyes following his mother's gaze. When the boy saw Ranma, he glared and gave a small growl. Ranma's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to explain.  
Gohan's fist collided with Ranma's chest before Ranma saw the younger boy move. He flew backwards into the cabinets, landing with a soft thud on the floor. Then there was a scream, and that's all he remembered. 


	2. Chapter 2

Ranma groaned and slowly opened his eyes. Akane stood over him, nothing but sky above her. He wondered when the sun had come up, but then all he could think about was that he and Akane had ruined their escape.

The next thing he knew, all the pain in his chest just dripped away. He blinked and sat up,  
feeling ribs that had been shattered moments ago. He looked at Akane, who was biting her lip, tears in her eyes.

"You okay Akane?"

She nodded, "Are you?"

He shrugged, "Sure. Where are we?"

"This is Kami's lookout."

Ranma turned to see Gohan and Krillin staring at them. They all appeared to be standing on a round disk suspended somewhere very high. Krillin continued, "We brought you here to get you a senzu bean."

Ranma raised an eyebrow and stood, pulling Akane with him. "A what?"

Gohan grinned, "A senzu bean! It heals any physical damage done to you."

Ranma opened his mouth for another question, but Akane gasped behind him.

"R—Ranma? How long have you had a—a tail?"

Ranma turned and gave her an odd look. "Are you going crazy on me too? Geez Akane."

She shook her head, "No! Look Ranma!" She reached behind him and pulled something in front of his face. Just as the brown fuzzy thing appeared in his line of sight, Ranma felt a tug of pain at the base of his spine. No denying it, the thing was attached.

"What the heck is that?"

Gohan flinched. "Oops. The Senzu must have re- grown your tail too."

Ranma flinched and screeched at the smaller boy, "Tail? Tail! I've never had a tail for it to be re-grown!"

Krillin waved a hand dismissively, "Sure you did. All Saiyans are born with tails. Yours must have been removed when you were a baby."

Ranma snatched the short man's orange shirt. "I never had a tail!"

Gohan pulled Ranma off of Krillin and glared at him. "Look, we were trying to be nice, okay?  
There's nothing wrong with having a tail! I had one until recently. Actually, it will probably help your balance."

Ranma frowned and started to comment that he had perfectly fine balance when he noticed a newcomer.  
A portly black man in a turban was staring at Ranma, giving him chills.

"Who are you?"

The man bowed. "I am Mr. Popo."

Ranma blinked and Akane pressed against his side. "Right."

Gohan grinned at Mr. Popo. "Thanks, but we gotta get going. Mom will kill us if we miss breakfast."

"I understand, Gohan."

Krillin and Gohan waved at the genie-like man before picking Ranma and Akane up. Ranma didn't like the idea of being carried, but he finally gave in and let Krillin fly him to China.  
"As if I ever wanted to see that place again."

Gohan gave him a curious look. "I figured you would like China. Your clothes are Chinese."

"That's 'cause me and Pop trained there until recently. I bought some clothes there when mine all got torn up training. I, uh, didn't see the sense in buying more when these were fine"  
No sense revealing the tight finances of the Soatomes.

Krillin shot a worried glance at Ranma before turning to Gohan and asking, "Uh, when is Vegeta gonna come after them again?"

Gohan shrugged and studied the horizon before them as the sun rose. "He didn't say. He'll probably be by later today. Vegeta's not the type to mess around."

Krillin nodded with a small frown. After a moment he added, "I kind of pity you, Ranma. I mean, you'll be lucky to survive his training, even if you are Saiyan."

Ranma shrugged, "I'll be fine. It can't be worse than some of the strange stuff I've had to do before."

Krillin snorted and gave a confident smirk as he gave a glance to the teenager. "You don't know Vegeta. He'll probably expect you to go straight to a few hundred G's."

Akane stared at the vertically challenged fighter. "What do you mean? That's not even possible."

Gohan kept his face blank as he watched the ground. "It isn't humanly possible, but for Saiyans it's a different story. That's how my dad got so strong on his way to Namek." He suddenly gave a slight course correction and began to descend.

Ranma noticed the dome beneath them and frowned even as Gohan continued. "Nobody beats my Dad. He knew he needed to get a lot stronger, so he had Dr. Briefs make a machine in the space ship that would make a field up to a hundred times Earth's gravity."

Ranma jumped the last few feet to the ground as everybody else landed. "So this Goku can stand in gravity that strong? I don't believe it."

"Believe it."

Everyone turned as Vegeta pushed himself away from the wall he'd been leaning on. "Saiyans are stronger by far than the pathetic humans you've been raised with. You will one day be able to withstand such pressure as well, but we must start small."

Akane pulled slightly back. This guy made her very nervous, and she felt much safer standing a little behind Ranma and Gohan. Ranma glanced at her before giving Vegeta a shrug. "Whatever you say;  
but Akane should be sent home. There's no real reason for the tomboy to be here"  
Akane blinked at him, but chose not to take offense this one time. Vegeta looked like he was going to comment, but they all heard the sound of Bulma's aircar landing.

She jumped out and stormed up to Vegeta. She stood directly in front of him, hands on hips and feet wide spread, glaring directly into his stony eyes. "Look mister, you have no right to treat me like this!"

He snorted and crossed his arms over his chest, not at all phased by her tirade. "I can treat you any way I wish, woman. I have bigger problems than a female's problems."

She leaned back and crossed her own arms over the T-shirt with her name in bold black letters.

"Oh really, prince of rubble? Well, I have news for you. You're living in my home by my good graces and you're stretching those graces pretty thin! You're in and out of the complex constantly without a word to either me of my father; and you expect all these favors to be handed to you because you were once a prince of a planet that no longer exists! There are going to be some changes, mister"  
He'd been looking at Ranma, preparing to comment when Bulma finished berating him. Now he paused and turned to study her with a blank expression. His face was so emotionless that nobody quite knew what was going through his head. After a moment he smirked and cocked his head, visibly deciding upon something.

"Oh yes, there will be some changes." He reached forward and threw her over his shoulder. He shot a glare at Ranma that everyone knew what it meant. Vegeta would come back from Ranma, and probably soon. Everyone stared in shock as Bulma screamed alternately for Vegeta to put her down and everyone else to help. With a surge of energy they shot off to the horizon.

Ranma's eyes rolled sideways to a resigned Chi-chi. "Uh, shouldn't somebody have stopped him?"

Krillin whipped around to face him, "Are you crazy? Do you want somebody to be killed?"

Gohan nodded sadly, "Yeah. We try not to make Vegeta too mad."

Chi-chi smirked, "Oh, I don't know, I think Bulma will be just fine." Everyone blinked at her silently for several long moments before she went inside to putter about doing Chi-chi sorts of things.

Somewhat predictably in an odd way, Ranma was awoken the next morning by being dragged out of bed by Vegeta. A stunned but quite awake Gohan waved numbly as Vegeta stormed up to another door, loudly banging on it once before pulling a still struggling Ranma into Akane's room. Akane was sitting up stiffly in her bed, confused and wary at her rude and sudden awakening. She blinked rapidly at Vegeta as the man glared at her.

"Hurry up, girl, and get out of bed. I'm taking the two of you to Capsule Corp. to start your training."

Vegeta finally released Ranma's arm and turned to study the boy. "Where are your clothes?"

Ranma, clad only in his boxer shorts, glared down at the spiky man. "They're back in Gohan's bedroom! If you don't mind, I'll go get them." Ranma stormed out of the room, ignoring the blue-faced Akane as she tried valiantly to keep from laughing.

Ranma and Akane were quickly dressed and standing outside the house. A miffed Chi-chi glared at Vegeta through the kitchen window, and Gohan was standing outside and smiling at the teens.

"Come visit as soon as you learn how to fly, okay Ranma?"

Ranma started to open his mouth, but Vegeta snorted. "What do you think we're going to do? I'm not going to carry both of them back to Capsule Corp. if I don't have to."

Ranma blinked at the overly annoying man, wondering if that's how he came across when he was at his most arrogant. "You mean you're gonna teach Akane and me how to fly?"

Vegeta smirked again and looked Akane up and down, causing the girl to blush. "She doesn't have the control yet to fly. I'll have to carry her for now. You, however, have some limited ability to manipulate ki. Now, power up."

Ranma blinked and Akane tried to decide if she'd been insulted. "What do you mean 'power up'?"

Vegeta growled in impatient frustration. "Power up, gather your ki!"

Ranma nodded once and closed his eyes for a heartbeat as he began to glow. When he looked up at Vegeta, the man had an odd and unidentifiable glint in his eyes.

"Now, draw all of that power into your center." The glow disappeared, seemingly being drawn somewhere back inside Ranma. "Slowly push the ki down and out, gradually increasing the amount of ki until you can feel yourself rising."

Vegeta casually demonstrated, instantly rising two feet off of the ground so that he was noticeably taller than Ranma. Ranma smirked and seemed to concentrate on Vegeta for a moment before closing his eyes. Akane gasped as he slowly rose until he was hovering at the same 'altitude' as his new teacher. Ranma opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow.

Vegeta smirked. "Good. Now, come here girl."

Akane was so stunned to see Ranma floating that she stumbled over to the two men. Vegeta reached out and grabbed her; if not roughly, not altogether gently either. Ranma frowned.

"Hey, why are you taking her?"

Vegeta smirked mockingly at the boy and adjusted his grip on Akane. "Don't worry, when you've mastered flying you can paw your girlfriend. Until then, I'm carrying her. Now come on, boy"  
Vegeta took off toward Japan. He was going slower than Ranma'd seen anyone in this mottled group fly so far, and Ranma grew even angrier knowing that he was being mocked. Feeling his energy soaring, Ranma shot after Vegeta. He saw the briefest look of surprise as he pulled even with Vegeta. Ranma pushed himself and put himself in front of Vegeta and his startled passenger.

Ranma smirked and cocked his head. "Don't be surprised, Vegeta. I've seen several people flying now, so it was easy to figure out."

Vegeta regained his cocky smirk, "Ah, but can you last all the way to Capsule Corp. at this rate?" Vegeta took off at a shot and Ranma snarled briefly before following.

Completely exhausted, Ranma more fell to the ground than landed outside the huge dome with 'Capsule Corp.' written across it. He panted as Vegeta set Akane calmly on the ground.

"Not bad, kid. Now, since you've exhausted yourself, you can rest until after dinner. That blasted woman was supposed to have gotten rooms for you already, but you'll have to find out where they are from her."

He shot into the air again and flew up to a balcony on the second floor. Ranma and Akane shared glances before Ranma shrugged.

"I guess we'd better head on in." They walked up to the door and knocked.

There was a long pause followed by, "Hold on a minute, I'm coming!"

They waited for a few moments before the door was opened by the Bulma girl they'd met at the Son house. Bulma was wearing blue overalls with her name written across them over a white t-shirt. Her hair was pulled back from her face with a headband and a streak of grease marred one cheek. She smiled brightly at them until confusion spread across her features.

"Hi you two, where's Vegeta? Didn't he bring you guys over?"

Akane nodded, still a little wide-eyed, "Yeah, but he flew up to that balcony after he told us to ask you where we were staying."

Bulma soaked this up before nodding, "Well, leave it to the blockhead. Oh, well, follow me I guess. I've got rooms already made up for you two. Are you two really engaged? That's so sweet!"

"Yes."

"No!"

Bulma turned and blinked at them. "I didn't realize it was a trick question."

Akane frowned, "Our parents arranged it before we were born. It's not like we chose this or anything."

"Oh. Are you going to get married then?"

The two teens turned away from each other and shrugged. Ranma was the one that answered briefly, "I guess."

Bulma grinned happily at this and pushed a door open. "Good, then I won't have to have a different suite made up. I went ahead and put you two together since you're engaged and everything. There's the communication console on the wall there, call me if you need anything."

Akane held up a hesitant finger as Bulma started to leave, "Um, Miss Briefs?"

Bulma visibly flinched, "Please, just call me Bulma, okay?"

Akane nodded, "Alright. Well, anyway, I was wondering if there was anyway we could have some of our clothes sent over from the dojo?"

Bulma smiled and slapped her head, "Oh, that's right, I forgot! I flew over to your place last night and had your oldest sister (What was her name? Oh, yes, it's Kasumi!) get some of your stuff together. It's already in the closet waiting for you."

With a quick wiggle of her fingers, Bulma was trotting down the hall. Ranma shrugged and turned to Akane.

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to take a nice, long nap."

Akane nodded numbly, "Yeah, I think I'll take a relaxing soak."

They turned to study the room they were standing in for the first time. It was a spacious living room with a rather large television against one wall, and another wall that had a long window running its entire length. Ranma's quick examination of the first door to their left revealed the bedroom, and he promptly threw himself onto the bed and fell immediately asleep.

Akane shook her head and opened the second door, finding a beautiful and elaborate bathroom decorated in a very modern and practical manner. She studied it for a few minutes before checking opening the door to her left. She found a closet that appeared to be connected to the bedroom. With a shrug at the closed door (through which she could hear Ranma's snores), she gathered some of her clothes and returned to the bathroom.

In no time at all she was up to her neck in steaming water. Her freshly washed hair was loose, floating around her in the water. She sighed as she thought of all the strange and unusual circumstances that had most recently landed at Ranma's feet. She'd have to explain the whole multiple fiancée deal that Ranma was tormented by to their hostess. Surely by dinner time they would have separate bedrooms.

With a blush, Akane wondered what the other fiancées would think of if they knew that she and Ranma had been placed in a single bedroom. She giggled and took a deep breath before submerging in the enveloping comfort of the water. She came up a minute or two later with a gasp and splashes of water that she knew she'd have to clean up from the floor.

"Gah!"

Akane sank back down to her neck and turned to glare at Ranma. "Ranma, don't you ever knock?"

He had his whole body turned away from her and his hands over his eyes as he edged his way blindly to the door. "I'm sorry Akane, I just wanted to see where that door led. Besides, you've been in here for a long time and I guess I thought you'd be out by now!"

Before she could get another angry retort out, he'd felt the doorway with his foot and made a hasty retreat. Her anger quickly boiled down to resigned and weary pity for Ranma. He'd taken being a full-blooded alien a lot better than she would have. The poor boy couldn't help all this weird stuff happening to him after all, could he? She got out of the tub and dried herself off, changing into the skirt and blouse that had been sent to her from home.

She peeked out into the living room and found a blushing Ranma sitting stiffly on the couch, body tilted slightly away from her in readiness for the violence he felt sure was coming. Akane frowned softly at him. With all the tumult in his life, the last thing he needed was her yelling and screaming at him for an accident.

"Is there anything good on tv?"

She calmly walked over and sat down next to, but not touching, Ranma as she flipped the tv on with the remote. He blinked at her in astonishment before shaking his head mutely. After a moment of aimless channel surfing, she found a horror movie marathon.

What luck, the movie just coming on was one that she'd never seen before. Turning the volume up, she set the remote on the coffee table and nestled herself comfortably into the couch.

Halfway into the movie, Ranma was casting confused glanced down at the girl clutching fearfully onto his arm. She flinched as the music hit a crescendo and the monster jumped out at the hero and the helpless damsel. He hated these cheesy little movies, but Akane loved them. Besides, he wasn't going to ruin her apparently bright mood by suggesting that they turn the channel.

Bored with the very non-combative plot, he glanced once more at the clock. It was hours yet until dinner, and he was starving. He was preparing to give a long and resigned sigh when Akane let out a shriek and yanked Ranma closer.

"Jeez Akane, the movie can't be that scary."

"No, Ranma, look out the window!"

Ranma did and saw Vegeta and Krillin floating outside, some distance from the building, apparently having a conversation. Vegeta snarled after Krillin had been speaking for some time, and swatted at the smaller man before plummeting to the ground. Ranma jumped to his feet and went to the window to see Vegeta storming off into the house.

Krillin, still mid-air, sighed and flew down to the ground at a slower speed before following the Saiyan prince into the Capsule Corp. building. 


	3. Chapter 3

Saiyans Lost:  
Chapter 3  
  
Ranma poked his head out onto the patio, Akane looking shyly (which was odd for her) over his shoulder. Bulma grinned and gestured to  
the two empty chairs she'd set out for them. Ranma grinned and sat down next to Yamcha, with Akane between him and the talking pig they   
called Oolong.  
Akane and Ranma had met several interesting people since they'd left the dojo, and heard about even more interesting ones. However,   
they hadn't spent too much time with any of them. Vegeta insisted that Ranma train every day, and he'd only gotten a handful of free days in all of  
these months.  
Bulma, trying a new and rather interesting hairstyle that somewhat resembled an afro, went over to the grill. Akane studied the faces of   
the men around the table. Oolong and Yamcha were arguing over the barbecue sauce while Vegeta studied them evident distaste. Her eyes   
wandered past the others to rest on Ranma as he laughed and snatched the sauce from their fingers. The three of them continued to laugh and   
fight, leaving Akane free to study her fiancé freely.   
He'd gotten a lot more muscular since he'd begun these mysterious work-outs every day with Vegeta. Ranma came out of the gravity   
room every day battered and bleeding to be put into the healing tanks for a couple of hours, only to come back out in perfect health. Over the   
months, he'd gradually come out in better and better health, needing less and less time in the tanks.  
Akane looked at him and had a hard time believing it was the same boy who'd been kidnapped with her a few months ago. His shoulders  
were much broader and he was more muscular all around. He still had the same ponytail and wore the same Chinese clothes, even though he'd  
had to have new ones made to accommodate his larger frame.  
He looked over at her and grinned as he held the barbecue sauce over the pig's head. Puar smirked at the boy's distraction and hovered  
a couple of feet into the air to snatch the bottle. Ranma turned back to counterattack as Yamcha burst out laughing, knocking over his soda as   
he did so.  
Ranma, now female, frowned at the still laughing Yamcha. "That's a good one Ranma!"  
"Gee, thanks Yamcha. Don't forget who's won all of our matches."  
Vegeta frowned at his pupil in disappointment, "Of course you won, Ranma. As a member of the Saiyan race, you have greater   
capabilities than a mere human. With my training, you might be able to beat that brat Gohan now."  
Oolong looked about ready to make a sarcastic comment when Ranma froze and looked up to the sky with an odd expression. Akane   
cocked her head and studied him, a little worried.  
"What's wrong Ranma?"  
He shook his head a little in puzzlement, his eyes vague. He reached over and rested a hand on Vegeta's shoulder. "What's that?"  
Akane frowned and looked up at the sky. "I don't see anything."  
Yamcha gasped and began to look increasingly frightened. "No, but I sure sense it. Hey guys, tell me I'm dreaming, okay?"  
Vegeta stood stiffly and snarled, "No, you're awake, and it's definitely him." His expression changed to a smirk. "It would seem that   
Kakarot didn't do such a good job after all."  
Ranma looked up at his sensei, a feat only possible because Ranma was seated at the time. "What do you mean, Vegeta? Who is it?"  
Vegeta lost the smirk in exchange for a much more serious one as he whispered a single word that made everyone shudder involuntarily.  
"Frieza . . ."  
  
Gohan's head jerked up from his schoolwork, his face serious, just as the phone rang. Minutes later he was zooming off to the horizon as  
his mother watched him once more fly off into danger without a backward glance for her.   
  
Krillin dropped the phone and shot into the air, leaving a large and startled turtle on the beach outside the small pink house. Said turtle   
blinked twice before turning and making his way into the house where Master Roshi was grumbling about being left behind again.  
  
Akane snarled and shook a fist at the retreating forms of her fiancé and Yamcha. She spun around and snarled as she kicked a potted   
plant. She hated it when everyone dismissed her out of hand when it came to fighting. She'd been training with Krillin and on her own, and   
she'd improved a lot. She could almost throw a ki-blast.   
"Don't just sit there girl, let's follow them!"  
Akane turned as Bulma gestured to the small aircar. "It will be a little cramped, but we don't have time to get another one. Hop in and   
we'll get there just a couple of minutes after them."  
Akane grinned and climbed into the open aircar behind Bulma. As they flew off, Akane could only grin in triumph. For the first time since   
Gohan and Vegeta had shown up at the dojo, maybe Akane could be of some use! Ranma hadn't seen how much she'd improved, after all.  
  
Ranma landed next to Vegeta, his sensei, and scanned the others. Within two minutes, everyone in this elite group that was laughingly   
called the 'Z Fighters' had arrived. For some reason, Ranma didn't include himself in that group even though he could beat all of them except for   
Vegeta or maybe Gohan.  
Everyone was antsy and nervous as they argued. Yamcha was silently sticking back, casting nervous and frightened glances around.   
Ranma couldn't blame him, since he was the weakest one among them.  
Krillin glanced once more to the sky, "Guys, I'm not so sure about this. How are we supposed to defeat Frieza?"  
Vegeta snarled, "For starters, you could keep it down so his scouters won't pick us up. He won't be expecting us to be sitting here   
waiting for him."  
Vegeta spun on his heel and started walking toward the cliffs that separated the Z fighters from Frieza's expected landing spot. Ranma   
glanced at the others and started after him.  
"Ranma, wait!" He froze. Was that Akane's voice?  
"We're coming down guys, look out!" And that would, of course, be Bulma. Ranma groaned and turned to watch the girls, with Puar of   
course, land.  
"Akane, what are you two doing here?"  
Akane jumped from the vehicle before it had even landed and stomped over to him. "I'm going to help, of course. I may not be able to   
beat you, but I could take Kodachi, Ukyo, and Shampoo all at once now with no problem!"  
Ranma frowned down at her. "This is a little different and you know it Akane."  
How could she be doing this? He'd thought that she was perfectly safe back at Capsule Corp. and here she was glaring at him. He   
sighed and turned to follow Vegeta, who was also glaring at the two girls.  
"Just make sure you keep up. Remember everyone, keep your power levels down. One slip up and Frieza's scouters will pick us right   
up."  
Vegeta spun on his heel and began climbing up the rocky hillside. The others fell in behind Vegeta and his pupil, climbing silently with   
stern expressions as they pondered the great evil that had just landed on the other side of this rocky outcropping.  
The climb was rough on some, and painfully easy for others. They were nearing the crest when everyone able to sense power levels   
suddenly froze. Akane frowned angrily as she immediately realized what they were doing. She'd learned to generally sense power, but not like   
Ranma and the others.  
Bulma glanced between the wary expressions of her friends, her own face betraying her fear. "What is it? What's wrong now?"  
Ranma took a halting step forward, "There's another power level now, and it makes that Frieza guy's look miniscule."  
They stood silently for long moments and stared forlornly at the nearby crest. At some unseen signal, they all burst into movement and ran   
to the top. Akane stuck back a little to help Bulma. She was tugging the older woman onto the final rise when she backed into Piccolo. He   
reached back negligently and straightened her until she got Bulma up beside her.   
She turned and blinked in confusion. An odd looking alien thing with white and purple skin was lying dead in several pieces in front of the   
giant ship. An similar but larger creature was standing in front of the boy nearby. The alien was staring in shocked confusion up at the boy, fear   
dominating his expression. Suddenly, the boy sent a massive ki blast toward the creature, disintegrating it, before giving the ship a similar   
treatment..  
The boy hovered there, mid-air, for some time. Finally, he began to lower to the ground as his hair, oddly enough, changed to a pale   
lavender from its previous golden blonde. He wore regular everyday clothes; jeans and a jacket over a t-shirt. Suddenly, he was gone. Akane   
scanned the peak franticly in search of him as everyone gasped. She glanced at them and followed their gazes to where the boy stood on the   
ground.  
The boy seemed to glance up at them from the corner of his eyes. "Hello up there! I'm going now to meet Goku, if any of you want to   
come with me. He'll be arriving in a couple of hours, at a spot not too far from here."  
They all looked at each other questioningly for a moment. The boy seemed to get a little impatient at that point, and took off. Gohan's   
determined face, while not appearing particularly clear-headed, made his choice obvious.  
"I'm going. He knows where Dad is."  
Yamcha frowned, "How do we know that? I don't trust the kid."  
Bulma glared at him, "Too bad, I say we go!"  
Vegeta opened his mouth to snarl something, but Gohan took off after the boy. Piccolo wasn't more than a heartbeat behind. Everyone   
else filed after them. Ranma was carrying Akane, and Yamcha had Bulma, but everyone else flew silently after the mysterious new fighter.  
  
Ranma was standing a few feet away from the strange boy as they all pondered the situation silently. They'd followed the young and   
incredible fighter to a deserted area where he insisted Goku would be landing.  
Although they were all gathered loosely together, the young man was sort of set off to one side by himself. He had one leg pulled up with   
his hands holding the knee. He was staring at the ground, but every now and then he'd glance over this way. Ranma had yet to determine if he   
was staring at Ranma or Vegeta.  
The boy stood suddenly and glanced about the group. "Hey, does anyone want a soda?"   
He pulled out a capsule and threw it to the ground. A mini fridge appeared and the boy reached in to grab a can. Everyone glanced   
amongst themselves for a long and uncomfortable moment.   
Ranma and Gohan perked up and answered as one, "I'll take one."  
There were some slight chuckles as others happily grabbed their own. Ranma brought one back to Akane, who smiled at him a little   
shakily. Ranma cocked his head and studied the other boy for a moment before walking over to him.  
His purple hair slid briefly away from his face as he looked up at Ranma. He had a curious expression as he studied Ranma, as if   
Ranma shouldn't be there or something.  
"Yes, can I help you?"  
"Hey man, I just thought ya looked lonely. Ya did real good against that Frieza guy."  
He smiled softly, "Thanks. I'm afraid I don't know anything about you. I was expecting everyone else, but your presence was a surprise."  
Ranma shrugged, "I haven't been with these guys for long. Vegeta remembered my folks being exiled to Earth awhile back, and came to   
take over my training."  
The boy looked startled for a moment before he cleared his face quickly of all expression. "So you're a Saiyan and f-Vegeta is   
personally training you?"  
Ranma nodded and sat on a rock next to the other boy's. "Yeah, I'm doing stuff now I didn't think possible a year ago. Heck, who would   
have thought people could fly?"  
Trunks gave a brief chuckle, "Yeah, it hits ya every now and then that some of this stuff isn't quite normal."  
The boy glanced at an odd clock and glanced at the sky. "He'll be here soon."  
"Who, that Goku guy everyone is all excited about?"  
Trunks glanced at him, "Oh, that's right, you wouldn't have met Goku yet either, would you? I've heard a lot about him, but I've never   
actually met him either. He's supposed to be the best, ya know."  
Ranma shrugged, "Eh, give me time. Ranma Soatome has always been the best, and he always will be."  
His companion smiled knowingly and shook his head. Then he looked up again and narrowed his eyes. Ranma did likewise, feeling   
out . . . and finding a power source that was heading right for Earth.  
"Is that Goku?"  
Trunks nodded as he glanced at the clock again, "Yeah, that'd be him, right on time."  
Everyone was watching the sky avidly, the two girls vainly since they couldn't read the power source as the others could. Finally, Gohan   
pointed happily at a small reflective spark.  
"Look guys, there he is!"  
Everyone but Vegeta, Ranma, and Akane had goofy grins on their faces as the sphere-shaped ship plummeted to the ground nearby.   
They flew/ran to the edge of the crater moments before the door slid open on un-oiled hydraulics.  
A hand rested on the rim, and a spiky-haired head poked out with a broad and vaguely confused grin, "Hey guys, how'd you know I'd be   
here?"  
"Daddy!" Gohan was practically jumping up and down in excitement as his father flew up to the rest of the group.  
Bulma gestured to the boy, "He told us. I think he's a fan of yours or something, cause he knows a lot about you."  
Goku blinked his wide eyes, "But that's impossible. I don't even know who he is."  
Bulma shrugged, "That's what he said, but he was right on when he said where and when you'd land."  
Goku shrugged and looked about. "But, who defeated Frieza? I sensed it, but I couldn't tell who it was. Was it you, Piccolo?" He smiled   
cheerfully at the Namekian, "Or was it you, Vegeta?"  
Vegeta glared at the stranger, "Neither. That boy showed up and defeated Frieza easily!" It was easy to see the Saiyan's discomfort   
with the situation.  
Gohan nodded rapidly, "Yeah Dad, he turned into a Super Saiyan and took Frieza out without a problem!"  
Goku grinned, "Hey, a Super Saiyan at your age? That's great!"  
Vegeta growled and gestured sharply to his chest, and then Goku's. "Aren't you forgetting something, Kakarot? You and I are the last of   
the Saiyans. If you count your blasted brat, that makes three of us. There's no way he could have a drop of Saiyan blood!"  
Goku shrugged, oblivious as usual. "Well, if he says that he's a Saiyan, I believe him."  
The boy took a step forward, "Goku, may I have a private word with you?"  
Goku stared wide-eyed at him and pointed to his own chest, "With me?"  
The boy nodded, and Goku shrugged. "I guess so. We'll be right back guys."  
Bulma took a hesitant step forward, "Wait-" But they were already flying across the crater.  
  
Ranma stared at the ceiling of his room at Capsule Corp. late that evening, a pensive frown on his face. Could there really be two   
androids coming that could take out all of these powerful fighters? Ranma had a hard time believing that, seeing as how he was only the fourth   
or fifth strongest fighter in the group and he was used to being the best.  
Actually, Ranma was a little saddened that boy (Was his name Trunks?) had left. It would have been nice to have another Saiyan around   
that was about his age. Ranma and Akane were misfits in the group. She was the least powerful of the fighters, well under even Yamcha.   
He smiled softly, she was brave though. She hadn't hesitated that afternoon as they chased down fighters so powerful she didn't have the   
ability to accurately define their power ratings yet. He'd have to make sure she got enough training that she'd be safe when those androids   
showed up in three years. Just to keep her out of the way, of course.  
Really, that was all any of them could do. They'd have to train, pushing themselves as far as they could, then boldly taking one more step.   
Ranma had seen a Super Saiyan that day, and he wanted to feel that power coming from himself. And he wanted it bad.  
With a confident smirk on his face, Ranma slipped into a restful sleep that he would need the following day as the training regimen for the   
coming of the androids began.  
  
Shampoo cast a furious sidelong glance to her traveling companions. Ukyo had insulted Shampoo's cooking, but Great-grandmother   
had forbidden them to fight amongst themselves until they found the missing Ranma and Akane.   
After threatening Genma, who's real name they'd now discovered was Tomegen, he reluctantly admitted that there might be a way to track  
them down. They'd all practiced and trained, and finally they found that they could vaguely track other people's ki, if the ki signatures were strong  
enough.  
So, one week ago, Ryoga had managed to find his way back to the Cat Café simply by tracing Shampoo and Cologne's power levels.   
He'd then smiled triumphantly and pointed off into the distance, proclaiming that he could feel several powerful ki signatures there, and surely one   
of them had to be Ranma's, right?  
So, here they were, slowly making their way down streets and across rooftops as they struggled to pinpoint the ki sources they were   
tracking. Abruptly, Ryoga froze.  
"Hey guys, one of them is going off that way. Which way do we go?" He pointed west, and looked questioningly back at the rest of the   
group. For once, they were following Ryoga since he'd proved to be the best at this after finally stumbling accidentally across the ability.  
Shampoo shrugged, "That only one, there others where we been going. If Ranma been there, they'll know, no?"  
Everyone nodded, and started off. Shampoo scanned their faces. Ryoga's was relaxed as he stared blankly ahead as they made their   
way further into Tokyo. Ukyo was determined, and a little worried for her 'Ran-chan'. Nabiki, who'd insisted on coming, was tugging her father   
along relentlessly. The two Tendos were keeping up surprisingly well, even if the others did have to help them when they made their way along   
rooftops. Mousse and Great-grandmother followed behind Shampoo, neither with overly revealing expressions  
The most surprising member of the group was Nodoka. The older woman had questioned her husband mercilessly about the meeting   
with this so-called Prince Vegeta, whom they now termed their king. Genma had to be left at the dojo after the beatings he'd received. They'd   
finally told her about Ranma's curse after she'd accidentally found out about Genma's. That made two beatings from his wife: One for letting   
him be taken by their King, and another for getting him cursed in such an unmanly fashion.  
Luckily, she'd determined that it was Genma who was unmanly for getting his son cursed, as opposed to Ranma who'd been cursed due   
to another's idiocy.  
Shampoo frowned and sighed sadly. Ranma had been gone for nearly a year now. She missed her Airen. She halted as the others did,   
and they jumped from the building as they entered a pretty wealthy residential area where the buildings were too sparse for efficient   
roof-hopping.  
They made their way down a couple of blocks before they all halted in a small cluster, eyes closed as they tried to determine which   
building the ki signatures were coming from. One by one they shook their heads and gave up until finally they turned to watch Ryoga.  
His eyes were closed and his face slack as he rotated very slowly. Finally he held up a finger and pointed.  
"I think they're . . . there." He opened his eyes and blinked. "That's a big place."  
"Look," said Nabiki, "This is the headquarters of Capsule Corp., so no wonder it's huge. These guys have gotta be loaded." Everyone   
ignored the drool and dollar signs floating around her head.  
Ryoga frowned, "Why would Ranma be at Capsule Corp.?"  
Ukyo shrugged, "Well, there's only one way to find out." Before anyone could stop her, she was walking up to the gate.  
The guard held a hand out, "What's your business here, mam?"  
"I'm Ranma Soatome's best friend Ukyo and--"  
"Oh, well go on in then." He grinned and gestured up the drive. Ukyo blinked, then stammered her thanks before hurrying up the path.   
She knocked sharply, then rang the doorbell. The rest of the group caught up to her and the eight of them waited patiently for a moment or two   
before the door abruptly opened to a smiling blonde woman.  
"Oh, hello, can I help you?"  
Everyone glanced around at their group before Ukyo nodded, "Yes, we hope so at least. We're looking for Ranma Soatome and-"  
"Oh, he's in the gravity room training with Vegeta right now. I'm afraid you'll have to wait for him. That Vegeta can get awfully testy if you   
interrupt the training sessions."  
Shampoo stared dubiously at the woman. From what she had heard, the man called Vegeta was always 'awfully testy'. "We wait then."  
Nabiki shoved her way to the front of the group, "Excuse me, but what about my sister, Akane?"  
The woman smiled, "Oh, are you that sweet girl's family then? Why didn't you say so! C'mon in, and I'll make some tea. Akane's flown   
over to Master Roshi's to train with Krillin for a few days, but we're expecting her back later today."  
The woman seated them around a table and left the room briefly to make tea. They looked around the table at each other, and Soun   
leaned over to whisper to his daughter.  
"Doesn't she remind you a lot of Kasumi?"  
Nabiki nodded, "Yeah, but I'm more worried about Ranma and Akane. What's a 'Gravity Room' and who's this Roshi guy?"  
Soun looked thoughtfully at the ceiling, "I seem to recall hearing of a famous master martial artist by that name, called the 'Turtle Hermit'   
or something."  
Cologne nodded sagely, "Yes, I have heard something of him as well. But he surely has retired, since I've heard nothing of him in   
decades. Besides, she said he was training with Krillin, and I know I've heard of him before."  
The blonde woman, she'd introduced herself as Mrs. Briefs, bustled back into the room with a laden tea tray. "Here we are, tea for all!   
Vegeta and Ranma should open the gravity room in about an hour."  
Ukyo smiled, "I can wait another hour to talk to Ran-chan!"  
The woman smiled and shook her head, "Well, that's only if he doesn't need to go into the rejuvenation tank today. He's been doing very   
well lately, and hasn't had worse that cuts and bruises more than once or twice a week in the last month!"  
Everyone stared slack-jawed at the woman until a voice called from the hallway, "Mom, have you seen Dad's solar panel collection? I   
can't find it any . . . where."  
A woman with blue hair had come into the room, stopping abruptly at the sight of all the strangers. "Oh, we have guests."  
"Bulma honey, these are friends of Ranma and Akane's. They came to visit, but they're both training so I brought tea for them while they   
wait."  
Bulma blinked once, "Oh. It's nice to meet you all. I'm Bulma. Ranma and Akane have been staying here with us almost since Vegeta   
took Ranma on as a student."  
Ryoga snarled, "You mean they've been this close the whole time and that jerk Ranma never once called?"  
Nabiki, sitting next to Ryoga, drew back. Bulma, however, simply frowned. "Hey now, they've been training really hard to help the rest of   
my friends save the planet again. They haven't exactly got time sit around eating ice cream and gossiping about girls ya know!"  
Nodoka stood elegantly and studied Bulma. "You say my son is training to help save the world?"  
Bulma grinned, "Hey, Ranma's your son? That makes you another Saiyan! Ya know, for awhile there we thought Goku and Vegeta were   
the last ones."  
"Yes, we'd heard that, but what of my son?"  
Bulma grinned, "Oh yeah, sorry. Anyway, when Goku got back a few months ago, this boy told us about this scientist that's making these   
horrible androids. My friends, with the help now of Ranma and Akane, are training to defeat the androids, who are supposed to be really tough."  
Nodoka nodded and sat back down, a pleased smile on her face. Ukyo bit her lip, obviously worried for her friend, but Ryoga suddenly   
grinned.  
"Hey, I got it! If Akane and Ranma can help, why can't the rest of us?"  
Bulma chuckled, "Sorry guys, but I doubt it. To tell ya the truth, I don't see what good Akane will be in the long run. Ranma, being a   
Saiyan,  
might be of some use. We humans just weren't bred for the type of fighting that is gonna be going on."  
Ryoga frowned angrily, "Hey, I'm just as good as Ranma is!"  
"Not anymore, pig boy."  
Everyone looked back to the door as Ranma and Vegeta walked in. Both were sweaty and had multiple rips and tears in their clothing,   
but Ranma was obviously in worse shape than his mentor. Ukyo and Shampoo jumped happily to their feet and ran over to hug him. They   
looked up in shock a moment later to find themselves hugging each other, a frowning Ranma standing beside Bulma halfway across the room.  
"Okay, first of all, you girls gotta stop doing that."  
The two girls pulled angrily away from each other to glare at their mutual fiancé. However, before they could so much as draw air to yell   
at him, Nodoka stood and crossed the room to kneel before Vegeta as he strode into the room.  
"Your Highness, I am Nodoka and I am at your service."  
He glared down his nose at her, arms crossed over his chest. "Humph, well, at least some of the survivors still understand their place."   
He nodded curtly to her before crossing the room and taking what had been her seat at the table. Ryoga glared at the man, who glared back.   
Bulma looked between them for a moment.  
"Are you sure you two aren't related? That's pretty freaky how you guys have the same expressions like that."  
The two men turned their glares to face her and she held up her hands, "Okay, geez, I'm sorry!"  
Ranma walked over to help his mother stand, smiling nervously at her. She smiled and reached out to stroke his cut cheek, mindful of   
his   
injuries.   
"They've explained everything, my son. Your father is still recuperating after his punishment for giving you that horrible curse."  
He shrugged, "It's okay mom, Vegeta helped me out with that."  
Ryoga jerked to his feet, "You mean you've found a cure?"  
Ranma chuckled at the shocked expressions on the faces of some of those present. "No man, not exactly, I just keep up a little bit of my   
aura at all times. That way, any cold water that hits me is heated just before it touches me so that it isn't cold enough to trigger the curse."  
Ranma shot the lost boy a wink, silently promising to teach the other boy more about it later. Nabiki, on the other hand, wanted proof.   
She poked a fingertip nonchalantly into her tea and found it to be dramatically cooled down. Quick as she could, she hefted the cup and hurled   
its contents at Ranma.  
She blinked, arm still outstretched, as Ranma caught the cup mid-air as well as catching its contents back in the cup. He laughed at her   
good naturedly.  
"I'm a lot faster than I was when I left you guys. I can show you if you want though." At a couple of nods, namely Shampoo and Ryoga's,   
he sighed and got a small glass of water. He held it out and let Nabiki test the temperature, and she nodded in satisfaction. Ranma sighed   
once more and upturned the glass over his head.  
"At least I'm on my way to the shower anyway." To everyone's surprise, aside from permanent residents of Capsule Corp., Ranma   
remained quite male.  
Cologne nodded, "I'm impressed Ranma. How do you manage to maintain that much ki constantly?"  
Vegeta snorted, "The hard part is keeping his power level lowered to a reasonable level. He doesn't have half the control he should."  
Ranma glared at his sensei, "Hey man, I'm learning! I never would have thought it was possible to have access to this much ki a year   
ago!"  
Cologne leaned slightly forward with an unreadable expression, "Ranma, how much ki do you have access to now, exactly?"  
Ranma shot his trainer a glance, and Vegeta shrugged, "I don't care if you power up, but you'd better do it outside so that annoying   
woman doesn't gripe about her blasted decorations again."  
Ranma nodded and waved for anyone who wanted to follow him out to the patio. He stepped just past the patio and into the grass,   
turning  
back to face his old group. He kept his eyes on Cologne's however, and then concentrated.  
They watched as a breeze seemed to pick up and his braid and hair fluttered wildly about. Then small pebbles and loose blades of the   
recently cut grass started to hover around him. Abruptly, his aura sprang into view as a soft blue glow surrounding him.  
"This is about where my power was when I left you guys a year ago. This is where it is now . . ."  
With a short shout, Ranma's aura expanded to a wildly pulsing glow that pushed the grass away from his feet in a small circular crater.   
His hair continued to whip about his head and his eyes shone gleefully at the open shock on his old teacher's face.  
"Well, Cologne, what do you think of the training I've gotten from Vegeta?"  
"Son, you will call him King Vegeta, as is fitting."  
Still glowing with his amazing aura, Ranma turned to his mother and pouted, "Aw Mom, but there's no Saiyan Kingdom anymore, why do   
I   
hafta call him 'King'?"  
Nodoka studied her son sternly, "Because it is only fitting. As long as our race lives on, Vegeta will be our King."  
Vegeta, stepping out onto the patio now, smirked, "That's right, boy, you can call me King!"  
Bulma rolled her eyes, "Oh great, now he'll be beyond insufferable!"  
Nodoka shot a glare at the other woman, but Bulma ignored her. Ukyo stepped up to Ranma, and he glanced at her, powering down as   
an afterthought.  
"Ranma, you will be coming back with us, won't you?"  
He smiled sadly and opened his mouth, but Vegeta barked at her, "Of course not, woman. Ranma is my student, and we will need him   
when the androids attack. He will of course be staying here to continue his training under me."  
Nodoka nodded, "Yes, and the rest of you will have to leave so that my son will not be distracted."  
Vegeta turned to Nodoka and actually gave her a small, if condescending, smile. "Excellent idea, and one I was about to insist on   
myself.   
The boy can't have all these silly women fluttering about disrupting his training. He's got a long way to go before he can hope to be of any real   
use against the androids."  
Ranma looked between the two Saiyans, "Uh, Vegeta, can Mom at least stay?"  
Vegeta shot a glare at the boy, not approving entirely of the tone he used for the question, but finally sighing in impatience and giving a   
brief nod.  
"I suppose so, but if I catch you slacking in your training, I'll make you regret it."  
Nodoka nodded, "As you should, Your Highness."  
Ranma rolled his eyes, but nodded.  
As everyone went back inside for a small get together before they had to return to Nerima, Ranma saw Cologne draw Bulma aside. He   
shrugged and went to say goodbye to his friends, promising that if he ever got some free time he'd come see them.  
"C'mon guys, as soon as we beat these androids I'll have lots of free time."  
He stopped and studied Ukyo and Ryoga's suddenly stunned faces, turning to look where they were out the window. "What's wrong   
guys?"  
All he saw was Akane and Krillin arriving, nothing out of the ordinary. Ukyo pointed and began stammering incoherently for a moment   
before swallowing.  
"Ranma, Akane just flew into the backyard!"  
He nodded, studying her curiously. "Didn't I tell ya she had been training? She gives Yamcha a good fight now, and beats him half the   
time. After all, she's got better technique what with knowing the Anything Goes style and all."  
Akane came into the room just then and smiled happily at everyone. She ran over and wrapped both Ukyo and Ryoga into a hug.  
"What a surprise seeing everyone here! I thought there was a lot of power coming from here, but I just figured Ranma and Vegeta hadn't   
blocked their power as tightly as they usually do."  
Ryoga pointed up at the ceiling, "Akane, did you just fly?"  
Krillin chuckled as he came in, "She sure did! She took to it like she was born with wings! I wish I'd learned as easily as she did! Of   
course she'll tire easily until she learns to hold back a little." He shot her a smile to take the bite out of the final comment.  
Ranma laughed and clapped her on the shoulder, "Yeah, Akane actually learned to fly weeks before she could even gather a tiny ball of ki   
in her hands!"  
Ryoga studied the girl, "Akane, what emotion powers your ki moves?"  
She smiled, "Oh, Krillin and Yamcha taught me ways that don't require emotion! Ranma doesn't use emotion to harness ki anymore   
either."  
Ryoga and Shampoo turned stunned expressions to face Ranma, who nodded and swallowed the potato chips he was munching on.   
"Yeah, actually, you get a lot more power if you know how to gather ki without any mental blocks like that. Of course, I still toy with the idea every   
now and then. I got some theories I'm looking into."  
Finally, Cologne and Bulma came inside from the patio, Bulma shooting Ranma an odd smile as Cologne studied the boy.  
"Well Ranma, that certainly is interesting. Perhaps one day you and I can discuss this further." She gestured for Shampoo to pick up   
Mousse, who Ranma had knocked out earlier after a slight misunderstanding. "Come Shampoo, we must return home."  
"But, Great-grandmother-"  
"Come along."  
Shampoo shot Ranma a pitiful glance before picking up her fellow Amazon and following her grandmother from Capsule Corp. Soun   
stood and gestured at the clock.   
"It is growing late, and we have a long walk home-"  
Bulma stood, "Oh, hey, why didn't I think of that? I'll fly you guys home if you want."  
Ryoga sounded almost pitiful as he moaned, "You can fly too?"  
Bulma laughed, "OH heavens no! I'll take you guys in an aircar!"  
Nabiki smiled, "That would be greatly appreciated. By the way, would you mind if I asked you a couple of business questions?"  
As the two girls broke into a conversation far above Ranma's head, he excused himself and walked over to Vegeta, who was sulking in   
the corner away from the group.  
"Hey, Vegeta?"  
"What is it, boy?"  
"Well, I was thinking about Ryoga over there. He's loads better than Akane was when she first started training with Krillin and Yamcha.   
He already uses ki blasts and everything, so why couldn't he start training with Akane and the others? Wouldn't every little bit of help be worth   
it?"  
The former prince glared at the boy, then snarled, "Why should I waste my time on a worthless earthling?"  
Ranma thought quickly, trying to find a way to make Ryoga seem like a very valuable commodity that would be worth keeping around. A   
stroke of genius swept across him, and somehow he managed to hide it on his features as he shrugged calmly, "Well, I'll need a sparring partner   
at my level all of the time. You can't spend all your time training me, or you won't have any time for yourself."  
Vegeta studied Ranma's face for a moment before shrugging and walking over to Ryoga.  
"You, come outside."  
Ryoga gave Vegeta a funny look before turning to Ranma, who nodded. With a shrug, Ryoga followed Vegeta outside. Ranma jogged   
over and caught up, catching Ryoga by the arm.  
"Look man, give it everything ya got. Any injury you get, we can take care of it, but if ya want to impress Vegeta even a tiny bit, you'll have   
to give it all from the start. No holding back, okay man?"  
Ryoga nodded, his expression serious, and turned to face Vegeta. Ranma went back to the rest of the group from where they were   
watching. He carefully positioned himself at the front of the group and in the middle. Krillin, seeing what Ranma was doing, nodded and joined   
him.  
Vegeta and Ryoga squared off, the boy taking a stance while Vegeta stood there with his arms crossed over his chest. Akane smirked   
as she studied the familiar tableau.  
"Look familiar Ranma?"  
He blinked once at her before studying the pair. After a moment he smirked, thinking of their first sparring match so long ago.  
"Alright human, attack me, and if you manage to hit me I'll personally see to your training."  
On the sidelines, Ranma and Krillin exchanged startled glances. Bulma actually gasped. "Hey, how many of your students do you expect   
me to feed here?"  
Ryoga nodded, then leapt at the Saiyan Prince. His fist, of course, struck nothing but air as the shorter man simply wove around it. Ryoga  
simply continued attacking, throwing everything he could into each individual move. Though his fists and kicks met nothing tangible, Ranma note  
d that he managed to sruprise the Saiyan a time or two.  
Finally, after two or three minutes of a distince lack of contact, Ryoga reached up as he flung a fist at Vegeta's face. Vegeta stepped   
one foot back, rotating as he leaned back away from the fist. Smirking, the prince shot a smug glance at Ranma. As his face left Ryoga, the   
Lost Boy snatched a bandanna from his forehead.   
He twirled it as briefly as he could before letting it fly, all the while preparing himself mentally for his next move as he berated himself for   
being unable to hit the man. Vegeta grunted as the bandanna wrapped around his feet, struggling for prescious seconds to remain upright. As   
Vegeta was angrily finding his feet, Ryoga shouted to the skies.  
"Shi Shi Hokodan!"  
Vegeta's head shot up as the Ki blast left Ryoga's hand. Immediately he reacted, surging himself skyward. No matter how fast Vegeta   
was, no matter how good his battle trained reflexes, Ryoga's hand had been only a foot and a half from Vegeta's chest as he released the blast.   
The energy nicked the proud Saiyan prince on the feet.  
Vegeta glared down at a startled Ryoga, letting out a screech as he gathered a mass of energy into his own palm. Ryoga yelped and   
lept backwards, which happened to be toward the group of observers. Ranma cursed as he jumped forward, crossing his wrists over his face   
as he braced himself for the coming blast just as it left Vegeta's palm.  
Ryoga stared down at Ranma where he was braced against the energy driving into his forearms. Ranma's knees were bent just enough   
to give without buckling as his face was clenched in concentration. Ryoga was amazed as he saw the leather bracers on Ranma's wrists flake   
off as charred bits.  
After a tense moment, Ranma cried out and pushed with another precious bit of energy to redirect the blast skyward. It flew past Vegeta's  
shoulder. Ranma glared at his mentor, shoulders heaving from his heavy breathing.  
"Vegeta, what were you thinking? You could have killed Ryoga, and probably everyone else too!"  
Vegeta shrugged and landed directly in front of Ryoga. He cocked his head, arrogantly studying the boy with a frown. Finally he nodded   
slowly, more a slight shudder of his head. "You'll stay here now and tomorrow Ranma can begin catching you up on your training."  
Ryoga nodded emphaticly until Vegeta turned and stormed past the spectators and into Capsule Corp. before he turned a confused stare  
to Ranma. "What exactly does that mean?"  
Ranma grinned and clapped him on the back, "Congratulations, you impressed him! Starting in the morning you'll be training with me and   
Akane!" He paused with a debating expression before turning to Krillin, "Hey, Krillin, could you come here to help us in the morning?"  
Krillin nodded happily, "Sure thing! Hey, Bulma, can I just stay here for the night?"  
With a resigned sigh she threw her hands into the air, "I don't see why not! I'd better go get a couple more rooms ready."  
Akane ran up suddenly and wrapped her arms around Ryoga's neck, "This is great Ryoga! You'll love it here, and maybe Bulma can help  
us come up with a way to keep you on the property until you can fly!"  
Ryoga nodded numbly and tried very hard to keep his nose from bleeding. A movement over Akane's shoulder caught his attention, and   
Ryoga gulped. Ranma was standing with his arms crossed over his chest, a ver self assured and very impatient frown on his face. A frantic   
glance revealed that everyone else was filing noisily into the house. A breath later and the door was shut, leaving the three of thme alone outside.  
"Hey man, why don't you step away from my fiancee?"  
Akane blushed slightly before turning, hands on hips, to glare at her fiance. "Ranma, I was just congratulating him! Did I act like that when  
Ukyo latched onto you earlier?"  
He rolled his eyes and waved Ranma into the house. "C'mon man, we'll bring your pack inside and give you a tour."  
Ryoga perked up slightly, "Do they have a dojo here too?"  
Ranma laughed cheerfully for a moment as Akane rolled her eyes and walked away. Ranma clapped his new sparring partner on the   
shoulder, "Nah, we've got something better. Ryoga, what do you know about Gravitiy?"  
  
Next Chapter:  
Ryoga learns to fly and gets a little bit of control over his curse. Akane and Ranma make some announcements (Gee, wonder what   
those could be?) and everyone continues training. The rest of the Nerima gang can't just take this too easily, after all, they know where Ranma   
and Akane are now. Ranma is a Saiyan and he's got a teacher now that he can respect, so I think he'll improve drasticly in a short time. Akane   
will probably be about like Yamcha, but with more courage. Ryoga, well, who knows. 


	4. Chapter 4

Saiyans Lost  
Chapter 4:  
  
He felt his heartbeat throbbing loudly and regularly in his temples as he frowned in concentration. Eyes closed he focused on his aura as he vaguely took in and noted the fuzzy words being murmurred by Ranma as he finally just relaxed. With a sigh, he let everything go. He was closer now to realizing pure acceptance of everything he was than he ever had been before. Who and what he truly was were becoming gradually clearer to him. Things he'd never guessed about himself were starting to make sense.  
"Hey, your doing it man!"  
Ryoga opened his eyes and frowned down at Ranma. Opening his mouth to hurl a few insults at his rival when he realized just how far down he was looking. He blinked in startlement at his feet where they hovered a little over two and a half feet above the backyard at Capsule Corp. the day after he'd arrived.  
He grinned, "Hey, it's that easy?"  
"Easy?" Ryoga turned to Vegeta as the man stepped out of the house. "It only took you all morning to learn how to hover a few measly feet. Now, I will spar with Ranma."  
Ryoga frowned, but Ranma stepped right up and fell into a stance. Ryoga studied Ranma seriously for a moment before slowly backing up to the relative safety of the patio. He watched as Vegeta began attacking Ranma, the boy merely blocking and dodging most of the time except for a few precise blows that he threw only when he knew they would not only hit, but actually accomplish something.  
He watched in amazement as the pair simply gradually increased their speed until the point that Ryoga was straining to even see their bodies, let alone make out their actual attacks. He was frowning, obvious strain showing on his brow, when he heard the door open behind him.  
"Hey, Ryoga, right?"  
He turned to see the short man known as Krillin smiling from the open patio door. Ryoga nodded and turned to face him, "Yeah, that's right. Need something?"  
"Nah, Akane just thought you would want to sit in with us for her training today."  
Ryoga shrugged and followed the other man down and around the bowels of Capsule Corp. to a room on the second floor. Krillin opened the door and went on in without a backwards glance at the Lost Boy. Ryoga studied the living room quickly, skimming his gaze over the couches and the television. It was a nice place, almost ritzy compared to the Tendos' place. His eyes fell to Akane where she was curled comfortably on the couch. She smiled and waved him over.  
Ryoga sat on the couch, self-consciously leaving a large space between them, while the short bald guy sat across the coffee table from the two teens in an armchair.  
"Okay, so where were we Akane?"  
She frowned and huffed, "I was trying to get more control over my ki. I never have had much control, I guess, with my temper and all." She didn't seem happy to be admitting any of it, but Ryoga was immensly proud of her anyway.  
Krillin waved a hand negligently, "Hey, who cares if ya have a temper? I mean, look at Vegeta. He's the meanest guy I've met and his temper is even worse, but he's the strongest guy around right now aside from Goku."  
She perked up and leaned forward, "Really? Me losing my temper and getting all angry doesn't affect my ki abilities?"  
Krillin nodded, "Of course not. You don't have to get rid of your anger, just use it as a funnel when you do lose your temper. Focus everything through your feelings, no matter what they are, and it can only help. Of course, it's stronger and easier just to grab your energy at your own disposal."  
She pondered those thoughts silently, nodding after a moment, then sitting back and biting her lip as she thought his words through. Krillin, meanwhile, turned back to Ryoga.  
"Let me guess, you're used to using ki through emotions like Ranma was, right?"  
Ryoga nodded, "Yeah, that's how we were taught. I use depression." He looked away at the startlement on the man's face. "I never thought you wouldn't need emotions to harness ki before."  
"Well," Krillin said, "There's more to it than just feeling inside yourself for power. Akane here has a lot of energy naturally, she just doesn't have much control. That's why her flying is still errattic. She has a lot of power that she just tosses about. It makes her tired fast because she can't hold back anything, she just pours every ounce of ki into the smallest tasks."  
Ryoga nodded, it made sense. "I'm getting used to just harnessing my ki without an emotional channel."  
Krillin grinned, "Good! Why don't you hold out your hand then, and make a small ball of ki about the size of an orange."  
Ryoga shrugged and held out a hand palm up, concentrating hard as he reached deep inside himself. He searched for a heartbeat, then found the warm swirling mass that was his ki. He reached out and tried to pluck just a small amount of that ki outward. His aura surged ever so slightly to the point that he would have given a very faint glow in a dark room, then a ball of ki appeared in his palm. It was slighlty larger than Krillin had asked for, but not by much.  
"Good, now try to shrink it down as far as you can. Concentrate on condencing it, not getting rid or it."  
Ryoga nodded curtly, then frowned down at his hand in concentration. He imagined every little speck of the energy in his palm going inward towards each other, and eliminating any space between them. The ball did shrink, but no more than an inch or two in diameter. He frowned, then concentrated once more, this time on wrapping each 'speck' around another, making one small ball out of countless others. Now he had a ki ball in his hand about the size of a grape.  
He looked up at Krillin and raised an eyebrow. "How's that?"  
"Great. You do have a lot of control actually--"  
The ki in his palm flashed brightly, then exploded suddenly outward in a display of pyrotechnics that would have made an appropriate finale at any festival. Ryoga wilted slightly, shoulders slumping as he stared at his slightly singed hand. Nothing else in the room seemed really affected, for which he was grateful.  
"Sorry, hope I didn't burn any of your stuff."  
Surprisingly, it was Akane who answered, "Oh, it's okay Ryoga, most of this is Bulma's anyway, and I don't think anything got burnt."  
Ryoga turned to her and blinked in confusion, "This is your room?"  
She nodded, "Yeah, well, mine and Ranma's at least. Isn't Bulma great to give us such a great place?"  
He nodded slowly, thinking to himself, 'they're living together?' "Uh, sure." He wanted to curl up and die. She wasn't screaming about the pervert sleeping in the same room as her or that Ranma was a jerk or anything. In fact, the two of them had seemed rather happy together in the breif times Ryoga had seen them together.  
"Uh, if you'll excuse me a minute . . ." He got up and left the room, not really sure where he was going as long as he found a queit place to think. He looked up a moment later, surprised that not only had he found his way out of the room, he'd apparently left the building. He sighed and started walking, wondering why he hadn't noticed a forest around Capsule Corp. earlier.  
  
Ranma panted and dragged himself onto a patio chair. Vegeta hadn't been going easy on him, but at least he didn't need a dunk in the tank today. He studied the cuts and bruises, knowing they'd heal up in time for their spar the next day. He leaned back with a smile and closed his eyes. He'd gotten much stronger in his six months training with Prince Vegeta. He could throw off ki blasts like nothing now, and flying sure was handy.  
"Son?"  
He opened his eyes and smiled at his mother as she stepped out onto the patio. "Hey Mom, how's everything going?"  
Concern glinted obviously in her eyes, "Ranma, are you alright?" She curled her hands compulsivly around the katana she gripped in her hands.  
He nodded and made a show of jumping to his feet and gesturing to the chair next to the one he'd claimed. "Sure, just a little tired. I'm glad I'll get to spend some time with you now. I'll just be real busy training for the androids and all."  
She smiled in relief and sat calmly, setting the Soatome family sword on the table. "Ranma, you have brought a great deal of honor to our family by being taken on as King Vegeta's student."  
He shrugged and sat down, "Well, it's not like he had a lotta choice, since Saiyans don't exactly grow on trees."  
"None the less, I hear he has seen great promise in you, and you have vastly improved from the skills described to me that you had supposedly posessed before you began training with King Vegeta." She paused and began unwrapping the katana, which she then held out to him. "Ranma, you are now head of the Soatome family. I have no doubt that you could defeat your father easily and repeatedly now. Take this, and lead our family well and into safety."  
He nodded slowly and reached out. As his fingers curled around the hilt, she released her grip. "Uh, Mom, I don't know much about swordsmanship."  
"That's fine, Ranma, I shall teach you what I know. I have no doubt that you will learn it quickly." She paused and seemed to be deciding on something important. "Ranma, I've decided that your father isn't--"  
"Ranma?"  
Mother and child looked up as Akane and Krillin stepped out onto the patio with worried expressions. "Ranma, have you seen Ryoga? He was training with Akane and I, but he just sort of disappeared a few hours ago."  
Ranma slapped his forehead, all traces of the mature young man accepting the mantle of his family's authority swiftly swept away. "The idiot managed to get lost again. Hold on." He closed his eyes and reached out. After a moment, he nodded. "Yeah, found him. I'll go get him and show him the way back."  
AKane sighed in relief, "Good, I'll come too--"  
Krillin cleared his throat and held up a hand, "Hold on, you and I can still train some before dinner ya know."  
She frowned but nodded, "Okay. Let's go." She turned to Nodoka and bowed, "See you at dinner, Auntie Nodoka."  
"Yes, dear."  
Ranma waved at everyone and stood up before taking a few steps away and shooting into the sky. A few minutes later he was flying over the northern end of Japan, scanning the ground below him with his newly honed ability to sense ki. Finally he found the familiar signature that identifiede Ryoga and he descended into a small park. The Lost Boy was sitting on a log by a pond, throwing rocks from the gravel path into the water.  
"Hey man, wandered off again, didn't you?"  
Ryoga looked up angrily from the log, "You've done it, haven't you? You finally won."  
Ranma stopped mid-step, "Uh, what did I win?"  
With a snarl, Ryoga shot to his feet. "You've won Akane's heart and stolen the one shred of happiness that I had left! Must you always ruin my life, Soatome?"  
Ranma froze, everything becoming clear. "We have become close since we moved to Capsule Corp., but I don't know about winning her heart or anything . . ."  
Ryoga snarled once more and threw his handful of rocks into the pond, sending the ducks flying away in frantic fear for their lives. "Oh please, I've seen the way her eyes look when she talks about you. How she smiles when someone mentions your name. Heck, you're even sleeping together."  
"Gah! No Ryoga, it's not like that. We're not sleeping together, just sleeping togehter, ya know?"  
Ryoga blinked, "Huh? No I don't get it! It's exactly the same!"  
Ranma shook his hands wildly in front of him, "No, we're not, well, you know, we just sleep int the same bed. We don't do anything."  
Ryoga stared angrily into Ranma's eyes for a moment, then visibly deflated and sank onto the log once more. "It doesn't matter. She's too good for me anyway. I'll never defeat you Ranma. From what everyone says, Saiyans are just too powerful for Humans to fight."  
"That's right, earthling."  
Ranma groaned, "Aw man, what are you doing here Vegeta?"  
"That annoying woman known as Bulma wants you two back home for dinner. She was harping in my ear and I decided it was safer for my ears to do as she said. She should learn respect for a Saiyan prince, perhaps from your mother." Hovering over the heads of the two boys, he continued, "Saiyans grow stronger with every battle, whether victory or defeat. We are physically capable of far more strength than humans could ever dream of."  
Ranma rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever, we'll be back soon."  
Vegeta glared from his position twenty feet in the air. "Well make it quick so she'll quit snapping at me." He flew off, mumbling to himself.  
"Look, Ryoga, you really are one of the best and only friends I've ever had. I'm sorry we've had so many problems, but with the world in danger and all, can't we just try and be friends?"  
Ryoga looked out over the pond silently for a long minute, then stood. "I don't know about friends, but I'll forgive you for loving Akane since that's not really something you could control." He looked up with a sad, wry smile, "After all, I fell for her too, didn't I?"  
Ranma smiled, and reached out a hand. Ryoga took it and after a brief shake, looked around. "So, uh, where are we?"  
Ranma shook his head, "Here, I'll teach you a trick."  
  
Ryoga landed outside Capsule Corp., if a little shakily, with a triumphand smirk. He could sense ki much better now, enough that he could now find Ranma, Vegeta, or Krillin easily no matter where they were in the world. Now, the problem would be getting somewhere where there weren't any powerful fighters around. Ranma landed lightly beside him and clapped him on the back.  
"See man, didn't I tell ya it would work?"  
Ryoga smiled and nodded, still caught up in the euphoria of finding his own way home so quickly and unaided. The two boys stepped into the building and followed the sounds of a loud argument in the dining room.  
"If they miss this great meal that Nodoka and I made just because you were too impatient to bring them back, I'll--"  
"You'll what, woman? Hit me? Go ahead, I won't even notice so--" *Clang* "Are you MAD woman?"  
"Bulma, I must insist that you quit attempting bodily harm on His Majesty."  
"You realize you aren't helping matters, don't you Nodoka? He may have been your prince at one point, but you wouldn't be a legal resident of that planet even if it did still exist!"  
Ranma and Ryoga cautiausly poked their heads into the dining room. Nodoka and Bulma were facing off, Nodoka's calm if annoyed expression the exact opposite of Bulma's violent one. Bulma was still holding the giant wok where it rested on Vegeta's head, the warrior silently seething with closed eyes and clenched fists as rice fell from the wok into his hair.  
"Uh, we're home?"  
Bulma 'humph'ed and slammed the wok onto the table as Krillin and Akane struggled to hold their laughter in check from their seats at the table. Nodoka turned a warm smiled to the boys and gestured to their seats as Vegeta impatiently flung rice from his hair and angrily sat down. Bulma's parents were calmly discussing their sick dog they'd taken in that morning, oblivious to the conversation.  
  
"That will keep a slightly warm field just around your skin that will warm any water that gets near ya. The hard part is instinctively keeping it up constantly. If ya forget, you'll get hit and it's all over."  
Ryoga nodded and settled his aura in place. "I'll keep that in mind."  
Ranma nodded and glanced around before leaning in and whispering, "You'd better, Akane still doesn't know you're P-chan, and I don't think she'd be happy if she found out what had really been sleeping in her bed all this time."  
Ryoga burned a bright crimson and gave a stiff nod before turning and walking up to the door. "Uh, Ryoga buddy, that's the closet. Go a little left, no, other left, yeah, that's it, now turn right, okay, you're the next door on the right."  
Ranma cocked his head until he heard the quiet sound of the next door down the hall opening and closing before turning back to the television. It was several minutes later when the door opened once more. Ranma reached for another bite of popcorn.  
"Ryoga, you had the right door the first time. I swear, you could get lost in a paper bag."  
Arms wrapped around his neck, "You should be nicer to Ryoga." He froze at the soft voice in his ear, swallowing with a loud 'gulp' as Akane pulled away with a giggle. "There's a great movie coming on in half an hour. Do you wanna watch it with me?"  
He looked at the screen. His movie wasn't going off for another hour. He sighed very, very softly before turning with a falsely bright smile to his fiancee, "Sure Akane!"  
She smiled at him as she opened the bathroom door, a pile of clothes in her hands. "Great! I'll just get a quick bath then!"  
He nodded with his smile straining, letting it relax as soon as the door closed. He looked at the screen as the hero bounced around in an entirely false fight scene. Oh well, it wasn't that great of a movie anyway.  
  
The bubbles were nice, and she didn't usually use them. The water was warm, she'd lit a candle, and the shampoo was herbal. This was the life. She'd been feeling entirely too boyish lately. She trained all day with Ranma, Krillin, Ryoga, or any combination of the three. Vegeta never seemed to notice her, let alone express a wish to train her. She shrugged, it was fine with her. That guy made her entirely too nervous anyway. Ranma was practically in love with the guy, however, with the way he went on and on all the time. 'Vegeta did this . . .' or 'Vegeta says . . .' all day.  
She smiled and sank into the water a little further at the thought of Ranma. Yes, she wanted to feel a little more girly when she was around Ranma. Lately, he'd made her feel girly. He was more courteous than he used to be, and was treating her more as an equal. She'd gathered from Nodoka that women fighters were considered equals of the male ones to the Saiyans, so maybe Vegeta had said something to Ranma.  
She sighed and stretched, glancing at the clock. She'd better get out if she wanted to watch that movie with Ranma. She got out and dried off quickly, toweling her hair off before brushing it out quickly. She slipped on her nightgown and robe. She studied herself in the mirror with a frown. She didn't look very girlish.  
She shrugged, well, the lights would be off anyway for the movie, and Ranma wouldn't notice if she walked out in a Teddy and fishnet stalkings. She walked out into the living room, content with the thought that Ranma and she were at least becoming friends now. She settled onto the couch beside him, leaning over and resting her head on his shoulder. He stiffened for a second or two, but then relaxed and offered her the popcorn. Yeah, things were looking up, aside from two androids coming that were going to attempt to ruin life as she knew it.  
  
"You what?!" Slack-jawed Ranma studied his mother as she sipped her tea.  
"Ranma, I can not abide with the treatent you suffered at the hands of your father. He holds no favor with me anymore. I have not laid eyes upon him since I was informed of the results of your training trip. I have discussed it with Vegeta, and he agrees that it is a small miracle that you turned out as well as you did with that man's genes in you."  
Ranma jerked to his feet, "So you divorced Pop?"  
She nodded and finished up her tea. Gathering the items from the table, she stood. "Actually, since he was gone for so long without a word, I claimed abandonment. He is no longer a member of our legal family."  
Ranma sat down heavily as his mother left the room. This was completely unexpected. He never would have guessed that his mother was capable of this drastic action. He thought she'd be honor bound to stick with the marraige. Sure, Pop had made a couple mistakes, but Ranma had learned a lot from the old panda.  
He stared off at the stars, thinking back to how clear the skies were up in the mountains with no cities or other people around. He'd had fond memories of the training trip, too. He would have to put some thought into this new development.  
  
Months passed, then a couple of years, with only a single brief visit from Genma before Vegeta 'hinted' that Tomegen was not welcome. Ryoga didn't quite catch up to Ranma, but he was pretty close. Akane passed up Yamcha and Ranma was forced to agree that she could come when the androids attacked. Akane was a little stronger than Ranma had been before Vegeta's coming to the dojo, but she still felt weak. She stood back and watched Vegeta and Ranma spar every day while performing amazing feats that left both herself and Ryoga speachless. When the two Saiyans would pause for a break, Vegeta would demand that Ryoga spar with Akane. He would watch silently until they finished, then give concise notes on what they did wrong.  
She shrugged mentally, it was more attention than he gave her when she'd first arrived. Ryoga always won of course, but she gave a good fight. For some reason Ryoga always seemed angry with her when they sparred, but that he was hiding it deep inside himself. She shrugged and slipped her gi on before stepping into the hall and heading toward the gravity room.  
She keyed the door open, and froze. Nodoka pulled away from Vegeta, but the warrior's arms didn't give and she blushed furiously. "Akane, what a surprise . . ."  
"Hey Akane, you're early aren't you?" Ranma stepped up behind her in the hallway, also freezing when he caught sight of the pair in the gravity room, a discarded tray of tea paraphanelia on the ground at their feet. "Mom, Vegeta?"  
"Good morning, Ranma, did you sleep well?"  
He stared blankly at his mother as Vegeta finally released her and snatched up the tray. He looked down at it for a moment before handing it brusquely to Nodoka. "Thanks," he muttered, then turned to Akane and Ranma. "Well? What are you standing there for?"  
The two teens stumbled into the room and made way for Nodoka on her way out the door. Vegeta was instructing them to pair up as Ryoga stumbled into the room. "Sorry I'm late, I'm still getting the hang of not getting lost." He studied the stunned expressions of Ranma and Akane. "Did I miss something?"  
Vegeta growled and barked, "Get over here and spar with Ranma. Akane, you and I will go next."  
  
Ranma grumbled to himself and stormed out the door of Capsule Corp. to the throw himself into a lawn chair with a flare of his aura. He began to fidget and jerk a hand through his hair.  
"Hits ya like a ton of bricks, doesn't it?" He looked up to see Bulma sitting on the grass nearby, staring at the sky with her knees drawn up to her chest. Her back was mostly to him, so he couldn't see her face until she turned a shaky smile toward him.  
"You think you've got it bad that your mother is hooking up with Vegeta, but trust me, it's nothing compared to my problem."  
He glared sulkily at her, "What's your problem Bulma? Your family's rich, you're smart, you're pretty, and you're great at what you do without even trying. Where exactly it the problem?"  
She continued to smily sadly as a tear slid down her cheek. Shaking her head slightly she looked up at the sky once more and giggled hysterically for a second, "Oh, nothing too big, I'm just pregnant with Vegeta's child."  
Ranma winced and bit his lip for a moment before standing and walking over to the woman. He sat stiffly down beside her and wrapped his arms around her. She returned the embrace and cried into his shoulder. He sighed in frustration. Due to the recent turmoil, he'd dropped his sheilds. Bulma's tears had activated his curse for the first time in months.  
  
She sighed and glanced about, the wind blowing her black pants (much like Ranma's) and her yellow gi top. Hard to believe such a peaceful scene would soon be broken by a horror beyond words. Bulma was clutching baby Trunks tightly to her chest, Nodoka standing on the other side of Vegeta with her heavily pregnant stomach. Vegeta paid little attention to either woman as he studied the city beneath them with a frown. Bulma alternated between angry and resigned glares at the Saiyan prince's back, while Nodoka favored her second husband with doting looks.  
Bulma had confided in Akane in the last months of the woman's pregnancy. She'd given up on Vegeta, but that didn't mean she had to like it. According to official records, Trunks had no father.   
Akane looked up with a smile as she felt Gohan and Goku arriving with Krillin. The three of them landed next to Akane, Ranma, Ryoga, and Krillin where they stood at the edge of the cliff. Goku had come on occasion over the last few years to train a bit with the three teens from Nerima. Just when Akane would fall into a slump, Goku would come for a visit to Capsule Corp. and make a small comment that opened up whole new doors to the girl. The man had a calming presence that everyone seemed to notice and lean on.  
"Hey everyone, how's it going?"  
Ranma grinned and continued to finger the hilt of his sword as he had been all day, "Hey Goku, we're as good as we can be with a couple a androids coming to kill us."  
Goku laughed but everyone else gave Ranma stunned expressions. Goku's eyes fell to Bulma and the baby, and he ran over with a grin. "Hey Bulma, who's this?"  
"This is my little Trunks. Isn't he prescious?" The baby looked up with a surly expression and sighed angrily. Everyone laughed and Goku began making faces, causing the baby's frown to disappear. Vegeta grumbled and walked over beside Ranma.  
"Are you certain you want to take that silly blade with you into battle?"  
Ranma shot his mother a smile, "Yeah, I am."  
"Fine," he shrugged, "it's your life. Don't let it get in the way."  
"I won't." He then turned back to watch the city. "Shouldn't they be here soon?" He sighed and started to pace, sending his senses out to scan the city.  
Krillin shuddered and looked up from little Trunks, "Hey man, don't rush things. Maybe he won't show up after all. The kid did say that things could change from what he knew."  
Ranma shook his head, "Nah, I can't see what could have caused that big of a change. I'm sure we'll have to fight these things eventually."  
Bulma stepped slightly forward with a confused expression, "But didn't you say that he'd never heard of you? Isn't it odd that you three just appeared in our world and not his, but before he came and changed things?"  
Ranma shrugged, "Who knows. I never would have believed time travel was possible."  
That brightened Bulma up, "Yeah, isn't it great? I can't wait to do a few experiments with what the boy told me. That's my next planned experiment actually!" She grinned happily as Goku handed Trunks back to her.  
"Hey, that'd be great Bulma! I'd like to go into the future and fight myself for a good spar! I'm bound to be stronger in the future."  
Bulma shook her head and started to answer when a loud explosion rocked the cliffside. Like a shot the warriors hit the skies. Goku gestured broadly around the city. "Spread out! Send a signal up if you find them."  
They seperated in sparks to different sections of the city. Akane followed Ranma out of habit and the two of them landed in a deserted street. She glanced around and stepped aside as some piece of cloth blew past her. Ranma wasn't paying any attention to her as he scanned the area as well, so she shrugged, walking off with her senses wide to catch any trace of the androids.  
  
Ryoga was with Yamcha. Not because he wanted to be with him in particular, but Yamcha was about the only one aside from Akane that he could keep up with when flying, and he didn't want to get lost again, which had happened a couple of times when he slipped and dropped his awareness of the others' ki over the months. Yamcha was shaking nervously and glancing about franticly as Ryoga calmly scanned the streets and buildings.  
"C'mon man, tell me again why we're doing this? There's no way either of us can stand up to these androids if they're as strong as that kid said they would be."  
Ryoga sent his companion a scathing look, "You know, that's your problem. If you just believed in yourself, you'd double your worth in this whole thing."  
Shaking his head, Ryoga wandered off. After glancing about nervously once more, Yamcha followed.  
  
Piccolo was by himself, but not far from Goku or Gohan. He didn't see a thing, and he didn't sense anything either. He was beginning to think this whole thing was some elaborate hoax, but he'd seen the boy defeat Frieza and he'd felt Trunk's power. No, this was real and he was determined to defeat this new threat.  
Now, if only he could find those androids . . .  
  
End of Chapter 4, Saiyans Lost.  
  
Author's notes:  
You know, I don't feel any great need to go into the Android saga. There isn't a whole lot that can change. Ranma's getting strong and will obviously help, but Gohan will still end up being the one to defeat Cell. After all, Ranma hasn't had a lot of time to really train. By the time the androids arrive, he'll be just below Vegeta and Gohan. I see him becoming great friends with future Trunks as they're the only other teenaged Saiyans they'll ever meet.  
How about Nodoka and Vegeta? Quite an odd relationship, but I like it. It's different. Anyway, I'm already starting the next Chapter, so get ready! Next time I'll be skipping ahead to just before the whole Buu deal. I want to get some good background in about what has happened between now and then with Ranma and everyone so the changes will be evident. 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
Ranma sighed happily on a summer day, many years later. Roshi's place was far from quiet, with the entire gang here, but then, Ranma had never really like quiet all that well. He glanced over to where Akane was struggling to hold their twins to her chest and out of reach of the slightly older Trunks and Goten. Chi-chi and Bulma were having just as much of a battle trying to contain their sons as Akane was having with the girls.   
Ranma chuckled, yeah, quiet was overrated. Shaking his head he forced down the grin and pulled on the mask of a perfect father as he stood before his girls, hands on his hips as he frowned down at him with his disaproval.   
"Now girls, what's going on?"  
They meekly stopped struggling immediately upon sight of their father. Glancing at each other before staring at the ground and digging small craters with their toes they sighed as one.  
Blue-haired and -eyed, the girls were a perfect combination of Akane and Ranma's female half. They were currently dressed in miniture versions of Ranma's chinese outfits; Ranko in red with gold details, Rinko in black with red piping and embroidery. It was Ranko, the braver of the two, who glared at Trunks.  
"He said girls can't fight, but he won't spar so I can prove it!"  
Rinko nodded emphatically, "Yeah, and Goten won't fight me since Trunks won't fight Ranko!" Her pigtails bounced as she continued to nod her head. Ranma held in his chuckles. Who would have thought he'd be such a great dad?  
Since the girls were no longer struggling, Akane let them go. "You take care of this, Ranma. Bulma and I were swapping recipes." The two women marched off, every man on the island above the age of six sweating at the thought of either of the girls cooking.  
Chi-chi shook her head and dragged Goten off to lecture him properly in 'private' on the other side of the island. Of course, that was only about ten feet away so everyone heard every word, but it was the principle of the matter. Ranma knelt and crooked a finger at the lavender-haired boy to approach. With a condescending snort, Trunks did walk over, but only after crossing his arms across his chest and glaring down his nose at the girls.  
Ranma wondered how a six-year-old got to be so high and mighty, but a quick glance at the boy's father answered everything easily as Nodoka clutched posessively at his arm. "Now, Trunks, have you seen my girls fight?" Brief shake of head, "What about their mother?" Another shake, "Did you know that Akane can beat Yamcha with both hands tied behind her back, and I mean it since she's tried, or that Krillin has a hard time fighting her?" A disbelieving look, followed by a slower shake.   
Ranma nodded his head once, "I didn't think so. Look, why don't you have your Mom bring you over some time, and the four of us can train together. It's always good to be open to different styles of fighting." Ranma knew that the boy had been trained off and on by different members of the Z team, but he'd yet to work with the boy."  
Now Ranma saw a little spark of interest in the boy's eyes. "I guess."  
With a grin, Ranma cocked his head to listen. Chi-chi's lecture was just rolling to a stop and a relieved Goten was racing back to the safety of the crowd in front of the house. Ranma gathered his girls and Trunks together and gave them a shove toward Goten.  
"Now you four go play, and that's an order!"  
Not wishing any more lectures, the children entered an uneasy truce and slowly made their way off by themselves. Mere minutes later they were laughing and playing together, much to the relief of several parents. Ranma smiled as he watched his five-year-old children, turning that smile to Gohan as the boy walked up.  
Gohan was now about eighteen, if Ranma remembered correctly. His mother had been relieved that Ranma and Akane were from a civilized portion of Japan and had asked their advice in which high school to send Gohan to. They, of course, had reccomended Furinkan. He loved it there, fitting in in no time with the wacky goings on at the unusual school now that the first week of school was over. He had several very close friends that he liked to visit, and often dropped by the dojo on his way to or from school.  
The girls were madly in love with the one man they'd seen beat their father. Of course, they'd never seen him fight Vegeta, so that was understandable. The fact that Gohan was triple their age didn't seem to matter to them. Ranma was just glad that they'd all survived the androids, and missed the good friend he'd made in the Trunks from the future. When he saw how this Trunks was turning out, it was pretty sad.   
He and Akane had continued school after the android fiasco, much because of Chi-chi, and both of their grades improved since she was continually pestering them about them. Bulma was the best science tutor of course, so that was a relief. Ranma smiled at the thought of Bulma. She'd been instrumental in solving his fiancee problems. She'd taken Cologne aside when the Nerima gang had arrived that fateful evening at Capsule Corp. and suggested that the Amazons might not want their blood thinned by an alien race. Cologne had agreed and headed back to China within the week.  
Ukyo had been more difficult, but with funding from Capsule Corp. her new chain of restaurants was doing very well. All had agreed that this more than made up for the theft of a single cart, and Bulma had made the point that Ranma had had nothing to do with the girl's decision to take on the guise of a boy. So, after much negotiations with Ukyo's father, Bulma entered into a partnership with the girl and her restaurants. And it was all thanks to Ranma taking Bulma over to Ucchan's for dinner one evening.  
Kodachi, well, nobody mentioned her much. She only remained out of an Institution because of her money and her brother's bokken. Kuno had mellowed out a little. He still didn't believe in the curses, but Nabiki had somehow convinced him that 'the pigtailed goddess' had escaped and was currently happily married. As long as Ranma didn't let his aura slip and get splashed in Kuno's presence, it was generally believed that Kuno would forget entirely about his female side.  
The real shock came shortly after that, when Nabiki announced that she and Kuno were to be wed. Nobody ever harboured suspicions of a loving relationship, it was accepted as a marraige of convenience. Nabiki's. She would happily maintain the Kuno fortune, and Kuno had a pretty young wife for society.   
"Hey Ranma, how's it going?"  
Ranma shrugged, "We're here, that's all we can ask."  
"Yeah, tell me about it. Goten's getting pretty good. I sparred with him the other day." He glanced around, then leaned close and whispered, "Did you know he can already go Super?"  
Ranma burst out laughing, causing several smiling glances to be shot his way. "I'm not surprised, my girls have been able to go super for nearly six months now." Ranma greatly enjoyed the shocked expression on the boy's face. "What can I say? Is it any great surprise that fighters like Vegeta, your father, and myself would have strong kids?"  
Gohan started stammering, then composed himself and shook his head. "Well, I guess there won't be a shortage of protectors for Earth when we're all gone."  
Ranma shrugged, "Well, yeah, but that's assuming we all survive them all going through puberty together."  
The two of them began laughing together, then walked off to join the other adults. Krillin offered them plates of food, which the two of them more than gladly accepted, and they were soon active participants in the conversation. The day passed quickly, and soon Chi-chi was gathering her two boys into her little Capsule car. Vegeta grabbed Nodoka suddenly around the waist midway through her goodbyes and took off.  
Everyone politely neglected to notice the strained expression on Bulma's face at the physical contact between Vegeta and his wife. She reached out and blindly pulled Trunks to her without looking away from the fading spark of Vegeta. Trunks was growing up with absolutely no knowledge of who his father was, which Ranma didn't really agree with, but felt it wasn't his place to intervene. Vegeta had shocked everyone by wordlessly going along with the ruse. Now Trunks was gathering his mother about the waist and taking off as she waved over his shoulder.  
After a strained moment, Chi-chi and Gohan waved cheerfully from the windshield as they took off, Goten yelling goodbye to Ranko and Rinko. The girls were hopping in excitement as they too waved. Ranma said his goodbyes and looked questioningly to Akane, who nodded. He knelt to take Rinko into his arms, but she crossed hers over her chest and shook her head.  
"No! I wanna fly home like Trunks gets to!"  
Ranma hid his smile as Ranko nodded in surly agreement. "Well, I guess you can handle it. Alright, let's go."   
With triumphant grins, the girls yelled "Goodbye!" in unison and immediately took off. Ranma and Akane followed, flying hand in hand after their girls. Granted, they would have gotten home faster if he and Akane had carried the girls, but there was no real hurry and they reached Nerima soon enough. The girls landed in the dojo's backyard, trying to hide their yawns, but Akane herded them up to their bedroom anyway.  
Ranma stretched and went into the house himself. Life was good, if not perfect, and he planned on making the most of it. Starting the next day he would look into using the gravity room Bulma had made at Capsule Corp., and maybe even look into doing something with the dojo. Then he would get ahold of Chi-chi or Gohan and see if she'd mind sending Goten over to 'play' with the girls.   
He smirked, yeah, it would be easy to convince Chi-chi to let Goten come over on occasion. Apparently Gohan was in the process of teaching his kid brother to fly, so that worked out well. Now, if only he could convince Vegeta to help with the kids somehow. After all, they were all half Saiyans, even if Trunks wasn't aware of that fact.  
Ranma frowned thoughtfully as he changed for bed. What would happen if Trunks accidentally went Super? Wouldn't that give the whole thing away? He'd better talk to Bulma about that too. Akane walked in yawning, smiling at him while shaking her head.  
"Well, they're in bed, and will probably be out like a light any minute after such a busy day."  
Ranma nodded and gave her a hug, "Probably. I'm gonna look into having Goten and Trunks come over every now and then to play with the girls. They need some kids about their level, and there are only so many half-breed Saiyans running around."  
She smiled sleepily up at him as she lay down, "That's a great idea, Ranma."  
He wrapped an arm around her, the other hand behind his head as he lay on his back. Already he had plans running throuh his head for the future. If one of his girls happened to fall for one of the boys, think of the power his grandkids would have!  
  
Bulma blinked at the man standing in front of her as she held the front door open. "Hi Ranma, what's up?"  
He grinned as Trunks started yelling at his video game in the next room. "I wanted to talk to you about a couple things."  
She shrugged and gestured him in, "I didn't expect to see you for awhile after the picnic yesterday." She led him out to the patio and took a seat, waving at another for him.  
He sat down with a sigh at the comfortable chairs. "Okay, to start off with, business. How much would it cost for you to do something like the gravity room to my dojo?"  
She frowned in thought, "Well, not much really, it would be easier since we wouldn't have to actually *build* anything. All we'd have to do is some major reinforcing of the interior walls and install the right equipment." She winked at him, "Besides, you're practically family."  
He grinned, "Alright! Now, about Trunks--"  
She blushed, "Yeah, I'm real sorry about his behavior yesterday. He's usually such a little gentleman, but around all of you fighters he puts on a big macho act."  
He waved her comments off and chuckled, "No, that's not it! I'm worried about my girls. They've got friends, but some of the kids their age are a little scared of them. I was thinking that they need some friends their own age and level to play with. I can't believe we never thought of getting the four kids together before yesterday."  
He saw her face fall, and leaned forward with a worried expression. "Hey, what's wrong Bulma?"  
She sighed and looked away, "Ranma, I thought about it, but Vegeta's always over trying to get you or Gohan or someone to spar, and I wanna keep Trunks away from him as much as I can. I worry every day that Vegeta will fly in here and decide he wants to take my son away, and I'll be powerless to stop him."  
Ranma nodded, "I can understand that Bulma. But look, if he ever tries to pull something like that, you know we'd teach him a lesson. Even if Gohan and I didn't show up and clean his clock, I'd convince Mom to give Trunks back."  
Bulma snorted, "She's got him wrapped around his little finger, if he'd only wake up and see it. The mighty Saiyan prince, conqueured by a woman."  
Ranma laughed, "Yeah, I've noticed that too. I go to visit Mom all the time, and she knows just how to phrase things to get him to do what she wants."  
She smiled, "Thanks Ranma, now, back to your idea. I take it you want Trunks to come over to your place to play?"  
He nodded, "Yeah, and they could even train together if they wanted. I don't force my girls to the art, but they live and breath it like I always have."  
"It's a Saiyan thing." Bulma rolled her eyes, "From the first time Krillin and Yamcha came over and decided to spar, Trunks was hooked. Krillin was more than willing to train him, but obviously he could only do so much. Saiyans are just so much stronger than us humans by your very nature."  
Ranma shrugged, "Yeah, that's why I never really had a hard time learning any human techniques. I mean, they told me how powerful they were and how hard they would be to learn, so I made them challenging to myself. After seeing Vegeta and Gohan fly, or throw massive ki blasts without batting an eye; I realized they were more than possible for me, they were easy. The girls and your Trunks grew up with it, so of course they're stronger than I was at their age."  
Bulma smiled, "Well, then I guess it's settled. Trunks doesn't really have any friends so it would be nice for him to be around the other children on a regular basis. If I tell him he can train with the other three, he'll jump at the chance."  
Ranma grinned, "Great, how about tomorrow?" It would be a Sunday, so Akane wouldn't have to worry about the girls missing school.  
Bulma nodded and in no time they'd settled the time. She would let Trunks fly over on his own since it was such a short distance, and Ranma and the girls would be waiting for him. After waving goodbye, Ranma took off straight from the patio and headed off toward Chi-chi's. He landed lightly just beside the door, knocking even before both feet were planted firmly on the ground. A moment later, a smiling and curious Chi-chi opened the door.  
"Oh, hello Ranma. Come on in." She quickly had tea poured for both of them, and asked why he'd come to visit. "Gohan's still at school, and I sent Goten off after some fish for dinner."  
"Actually, I'm here about Goten. I've been worried lately about the girls having playmates that they won't hurt by accident. You know our children are just naturally stronger than others, and their training multiplies that. Gohan was telling me that he'd been teaching Goten to fly, and I thought it would be great if he could come over every so often to play with my girls."  
Chi-chi looked thoughtful, but a little skeptical. "I don't know Ranma, that's a pretty big flight for a boy on his own."  
Ranma nodded, "I know, but if I didn't know that you would have taught your son at least as well as I'd taught my girls, I wouldn't even ask. The kids know right from wrong, and how much safer could they be than in the air? Just about anyone on Earth that can fly wouldn't be a match for them, and they're more than fast enough to dodge planes."  
Chi-chi nodded that he was right. "Well, he does get lonely here on his own. And he could come home with Gohan after he gets out of school. He could even go in with Gohan in the mornings, if he was caught up with his schoolwork."  
Ranma sat up with a flash of brilliance, "Hey, couldn't he come to school in Nerima? If he's going to be there all day anyway, he might as well. They you could have some more free time for yourself?"  
She bit her lip, "I . . . I suppose that makes sense. Assuming it's a good school of course."  
Ranma waved a dismmisive hand, "Do you think Akane would send the girls to anything but the best? Besides, surely you could tutor him till he was miles above the other kids his age. Of course, he's a year ahead of my girls, but that wouldn't really matter."  
She smiled, competition was always good motivation for a boy like Goten. "That's brilliant Ranma. Then he could play with your girls for a bit after school, then come home with Gohan."  
Ranma smiled happily, proud of himself. He'd maneuvered this well. His girls practiced the art voluntarily, but they had absolutely no competition in Nerima. They weren't pushing themselves. With Goten and Trunks there as constant companions and competition, they'd improve by leaps and bounds in no time!  
  
Ranko glared at Trunks. Trunks glared at Rinko. Rinko glared at Goten. Goten blushed as his stomach growled. Sure, they'd all gotten along at Roshi's, but that had been when they were under adult supervision. Now they were alone in the dojo, Ranma telling them to play nice while he did some quick shopping for Akane.  
"Geez," Trunks muttered, "Don't you guys have anything to do around here?"  
Ranko stared down her cute little nose at him, "Well, *you* are interrupting our training time." She jerked a thumb at her sister.  
"Yeah!" Rinko didn't know what the big deal was, but if Ranko was mad, she was mad.  
Goten brightened immediately. "Heh, then why don't we all train? I wanna get better so I can catch Gohan of guard, and maybe beat him!"  
Trunks rolled his eyes, "Like these two could give *us* a challenge, Gohan."  
Ranko fumed. Who did this kid think he was? This was their house, and he was being rude. She smirked, a rough idea forming. Just because he was a year older didn't mean he was any better.  
"Then why don't you spar with me?"  
Rinko began jumping up and down, "Yeah! I wanna see you two fight! You can take this little brat any day of the week, Ranko!"  
Trunks snarled and stepped forward, "Uh uh! I'll beat her easy!"  
Ranko smirked, "Then prove it!"  
  
Licking her lip in concentration, Akane reread the directions. No, it definitely said to add a 1/4 cup. Okay. She carefully selected her measuring cup, and measured it out as precisely as she could, dumping the flour into the bowl. Okay. Next ingredient.  
A loud explosion made her shriek and jump, then she calmed. Angrily she grabbed the biggest knife from the counter and literally flew out into the backyard. A bright flash of light and a surge of ki sent her to the dojo. She stopped dead in the doorway to see her daughter Ranko squared off against Bulma's Trunks, both children breathing heavily.  
"Alright, hold up! What do you think you're doing?"  
Ranko immediately dropped her stance and blushed furiously at the floor. "*He* threw the ki blast, Momma! I 'membered the rules!"  
Trunks glanced quickly between Ranko and her mother in confusion for a moment. "Oops. I'm sorry Mrs. Soatome, I'm used to the gravity room." He too looked to the ground in embarrasment, and Akane sighed.  
"That's alright, but why don't you kids just keep it to kicks and punches for now, alright? No more ki attacks until we get the walls reinforced."  
The kids all nodded, glad to be escaping a lecture. She turned and left, waiting till she was out of their sight before smiling and shaking her head. She was waiting for Ranma at the door when he returned with the groceries.  
He gave her a peck on the cheek and handed her the paper bag, "What's the big grin for?"  
"There's a new whole in the dojo wall, courtesy of Brief's Construction Crew."  
He slapped his head, "That's not what I meant by 'Playing Nice' at all! I'd better talk to them."  
She waved a hand and headed for the kitchen, "I already did. I think I scared the girls running in brandishing a butcher knife. I thought we were under attack."  
Ranma knew she was thinking back to when the androids had attacked Nerima so long ago. They'd nearly gotten Kasumi and Soun, and Akane had been even more protective of her family since. "Sorry 'Kane, I'll give them all better instructions from now on."  
He headed out back and had nearly made it to the dojo when he felt a familiar presence landing nearby. "Hey Vegeta, what's up?"  
The shorter man was studying the dojo silently, arms crossed over his chest. "I felt a lot of power here. I just came to investigate."  
Ranma nodded and walked over to his teacher and 'liege', as his mother put it. "Yeah, the kids are over here playing. You know, Trunks and Goten."  
Ranma wondered if he'd imagined the flinch of Vegeta's cheek at the mention of his son. "Look, Vegeta, about Trunks . . ."  
"What about the brat?"  
Ranma sighed, "Nothing, I guess. But don't you think the kid needs a Dad?"  
One of Vegeta's powerful shoulders jerked in a shrug, "Why? I did fine on my own."  
Ranma turned to study the dojo as well, silent for awhile. Finally he shrugged as well, "Maybe, but he's very powerful, your son. With the right training, he could easily beat my girls, I'd say. Maybe even Goten."  
Vegeta jerked his head to glare at Ranma, who didn't budge. "No brat of Kakkarot's will defeat a warrior of my own flesh and blood!"  
Ranma held his hands up, "Okay, geez, calm down. I'm just saying that nobody except maybe me could even come close to training him right, and I've got my own girls to look after. Krillin, Yamcha, heck even Piccolo have trained him a little at a time." He turned back to the dojo, "I'm just saying that it takes a Saiyan to properly train a Saiyan, in my opinion."  
Vegeta's face softened slightly. Granted, he still looked mean and viscious, but not murderous. "The woman doesn't want me around him."  
Ranma shrugged, "Maybe I can talk to her. You'd have to promise not to try and take him from her though." He stepped in front of his mentor with a cold gleam in his eye. "Look Vegeta, I've always respected you. But I will not hesitate to grab Gohan and gang up on you to defeat you if I have to. If I hear that you've taken Trunks away from his mother, I'll do just that and take him back to her."  
Their eyes clashed as hard as their fists could in silent battle before Vegeta smirked. He didn't look away or back down, but the battle obviously ended. "I don't want the brat, I just can't have him staining my noble lineage. Speak to the woman."  
Without another word, the Saiyan prince took off, obviously headed for the house he lived in with Nodoka. Ranma was stunned. No matter how hard he'd tried in training, Ranma had never felt he'd impressed his mentor, not even once. But there had been a new something, a strange spark, in Vegeta's eyes when he'd let the deadly staring contest drop. If Ranma wasn't completely off base, he'd swear it had been respect.  
  
Adjusting the strap of his new backpack, Goten hummed to himself as he walked along the fence behind his new friends. He still didn't understand why they were walking up there, but the two girls were doing it, and it was kind of fun if you didn't use your ki to cheat. And with the other two there, he couldn't cheat. They would of course know the instant he used even a speck of ki, and they'd gang up on him to knock him to the ground.  
Those were the rules.  
He smiled in satisfaction as the pack now fit more comfortably, and turned back to the front. This was his first day of school, and he couldn't wait. Ranko and Rinko promised to introduce him to their friends at recess, and that they could all play together. He hadn't met many kids, let alone a whole building of them all close to his own age.  
Ranko and Rinko coiled their legs beneath them, leaping over the street to the opposite sidewalk. Goten simply shrugged and flew over to land beside them. Ranko glared at him while Rinko glanced about franticly.  
"What are you doing? Didn't we tell you not to fly?"  
He blushed and scratched the back of his neck, "Sorry Ranko, but I thought the game was over since you two got off of the fence."  
Rinko smiled patiently, "It's not a game, Goten, it's training. We're perfecting our balance by walking on fences instead of the sidewalk. And we're not supposed to fly at or to school. The other kids can't do it, and Daddy doesn't want us to make them feel bad."  
"Ooooh. I see." An older person would see that he obviously didn't, but the girls believed him. "Now what do we do?"  
Ranko gestured at the building they were standing in front of. "We're gonna take you to the office, and they'll tell you what to do."  
With that the three kids entereed the building, the girls waving at friends as they passed. Goten did his best to look friendly, but everyone pretty much ignored him. He sighed and patiently began counting the hours until he could go home and train.  
  
"So the tournament's coming up, and we thought you might want to enter."  
Ranma smiled at Krillin and Yamcha, "Thanks guys. That means a lot. I don't know though, I'm not real sure what Akane would say."  
Krillin sighed, "I swear, the things we married people say. It's perfectly safe, there won't be anyone there stronger than our usual group. It's more like an excuse to get together than anything."  
Ranma shrugged with a goofy grin, "I'd better talk to Akane anyway, but yeah, I'd love to."  
Krillin grinned and shot him a thumb's up, "Thatta boy. Oh, and you might wanna enter your girls for the experience. I'm sure you've been training them up non stop."  
Ranma smiled proudly and Krillin, as a fellow father, couldn't help but notice how he stood a little taller before waving and walking off. Shaking his head, Krillin took to the sky and headed home. Yamcha waving and splitting off in another direction. 


	6. Chapter 6

"Oh Please Akane, who could possibly hurt them? Goten wouldn't cause them any serious harm, and you know Trunks isn't up to their level with such on and off training." She frowned at him, "That's not his fault Ranma! The poor boy, not having a father." He held his hands up as a shield, "I wasn't pointing fingers! I'm the one that's getting Vegeta in on his training, if you remember." She sighed and set the pot of soup on the table, "I know, Ranma. I'm sorry. You know the girls' levels better than I do, so I'll trust your judgment, but if anything happens . . ." She let her voice trail off ominously, but he simply grinned and grabbed her around the waist in a spinning hug. At the sound of girlish giggles he paused and smiled over his shoulder at the girls.  
"Guess what your Pop just convinced your Mama to let you fine warriors do?" He'd expected their adulation and glee, but not the triumphant grins they exchanged. "We're gonna be in the tournament!!" They jumped around, holding each other's hands, then ran over and jumped at their parents. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!!" Ranma merely blinked, wondering how they'd known? With a knowing grin his thoughts turned to Trunks and Goten. Leave it to those boys to ruin his surprise.  
Oh well, the girls were happy and it would be fun.  
  
"Mom, ya home?" "In the kitchen dear, come on in." Ranma grinned and licked his lips, kitchens meant tidbits from a mother who always worried about her son's health. Akane's cooking, though improved, was still infamous.  
He ducked in and smiled, knowing his mother wouldn't like it. "What brings you by Ranma dear?" He shrugged and sat at the table, "Nothin' much, just thought we should catch up. You haven't been by in awhile." She paused to glance at him, then went back to her cooking. After a time she said, "You haven't come by either, you know. Vegeta has asked about you." Ranma shrugged, "Where is my charming step-father?" Even Vegeta was an improvement of Genma, in some ways, though the panda still popped up every now and again.  
"He said he would be training. He's going to enter the tournament, you know." She smiled proudly at him.  
"I figured. So am I, actually. That's part of why I'm dropping by. Akane and I have decided to allow the girls to enter as well." "WHAT!?!" He snatched the frying pan from the air in front of his face. "Geez mom, it's not like they'll get hurt. The only powerful fighters there will be our own group, and nobody will hurt them. Trunks and Goten are entering too, and you know Goten is barely their equal, and Trunks is, well, not." It had long ago been decided that nobody would tell Nodoka who Trunks' father was. They were waiting to see what Vegeta did, and apparently he had decided to do nothing.  
With a frown, Ranma opened his senses wide and sought out his step-father. After a moment he smiled knowingly. Yes, Vegeta was training alright. Training his son.  
"Oh, Ranma, I don't like it. The girls are-" "Perfectly capable of handling themselves. I just wish I could get them to fight as well individually as they do together. I never gave much thought to all those rumors about twins, but sometimes I wonder if they don't have some kind of special link after all." Nodoka began spooning the dough out into separated lumps, and Ranma was deeply upset that he probably wouldn't be around long enough to taste the cookies.  
"I'll trust your judgment, but not overly willingly. You know I worry, I am their grandmother after all. Just, well, watch them carefully during their fights." He stood and went to hug her, "Did you think I wouldn't?" She smiled up at him, then glanced about. With a smile she snatched up a covered bowl and held it out to him. "Here, take these home to my three favorite girls, and don't eat a one before you get home!" He grinned sheepishly, with a tinge of triumph in his expression as well, and trotted out the door.  
He glanced about the empty street before leaping into the air. He had to keep his aura down so he didn't glow as the early evening descended on the town and the sky darkened. He'd stand out like a comet if he powered up while flying. Nerima was used to a lot, but people flying around and lighting up whole streets wasn't quite blasé yet.  
He was home shortly, and dropped down on the porch. Setting the cookies on the dining room table he went in search of his wife. He found her just leaving the changing room, drying her hair with a towel.  
She looked up and smiled hesitantly, "Well, you're alive. That's a good sign." He chuckled and gave her a hug. "She took it rather well. I think she's taking me being 'head of the Soatome family' as meaning I can actually make decisions without consulting her. Not that there's much left of the Soatome family." "And who's fault is that?" Ranma rolled his eyes and turned, "Hey Pop, when did you get back in town?" Genma remained in the doorway to his room, the one he'd shared so long ago with Ranma when the two of them had first come to Nerima.  
"This morning." "Just before Lunch," Akane quipped.  
Ranma walked over clapped his father on the back, "You know you're always welcome Pop. The girls were asking about you awhile back. When was your last visit? Two, three months ago?" "Five." Ranma chuckled through his discomfort, "My, time flys." Genma winced, and Ranma repeated the gesture. Genma didn't take any mention of flight well.  
"Uh, The girls and I are entering the World Tournament in a couple months. You should come with us, the girls would love for you to see them fight, and-" "No, I don't think so. Your mother would be there, and Him." "Well, probably but . . . right. So, sorry I didn't get to see you any earlier today, I've been running errands and such. Ukyo's boy was having a little problem I had to help him with, and I visited Chi-chi this morning to drop something off from Akane, so I thought I should check in on our favorite amazon while I was there." Akane snorted and headed down stairs. Ranma looked around vainly for one of the girls, who were the only souls his father cheered up for anymore. "So, uh, their tournament is coming up next week, and of course the whole family's invited. Why not come to that? And no, Mom isn't coming." Genma started to speak, hesitated, and sighed. "Fine, if I haven't left town by then." "Great! The girls are looking forward to it. Shampoo promised to let them spar with the winner, well, one of them at least." Genma chuckled, "Either of my girls could take on the whole amazon tribe with one arm and both legs tied back!" Ranma failed to mention that all they'd have to do then would be to fly, but he refrained just in time. "Yeah, they sure are something, aren't they?" "I brought them some presents from my journeys. I told them of a training ground they should check out. You'd better go with them, keep 'em in line." Ranma nodded and gestured to the stairs. "How long's it been since you saw Mr. Tendo?" "Hmmph. Too long. I'll drop by tomorrow." Ranma nodded and led the way to the dining room and then out to sit on the porch. Oh yeah, he thought, and dropped his aura. It distressed his father to see Ranma get splashed and stay human. With a mental sigh Ranma studied the skyline. If only he could cheer his father up, but it seemed impossible. Maybe he should just stop trying, but his father was just so bitter after losing his wife to another man. The fact that he was now so far down on the list of strong martial artists didn't help.  
  
"No, no, Rinko. No ki blasts, remember?" Ranma walked over to his daughter, the expansive desert he'd brought them to for training as blessedly empty as he'd known it would be. All of the Z fighters used this area on occasion, but Ranma never really saw anyone else around even though he was careful to do a quick sweep of the area before they started.  
"I know Daddy, but I didn't think she'd be expecting one right then." Ranko grinned and stuck her tongue out at her sister, who blushed and dug her toe into the sand.  
"I know Ranko, but you never know. Close distance only, but only under the most drastic conditions. Remember, we'll be fighting normal people in the tournament. Not very many earthlings can use ki to the great extent needed for an energy blast." He stepped back and jumped onto a boulder a good thirty feet away from the girls. "Okay, now start again." He watched them carefully as the two girls jumped and twisted and fought. They were beyond grubby now, with torn shirts and mud streaked cheeks, but Akane would understand. He smiled, his wife was already quite proud of the fact that her daughters would be participating in the World Martial Arts Championship.  
She'd even packed them lunch. Ranma shot the bundled baskets off to his right a wary glance. She may be getting better, but she was by no means a master chef.  
He returned his attention to his daughters as Rinko shot into the sky to avoid an attack, then plummeted back to the ground to send a spinning kick to her sister's back. Ranko turned just in time to catch Rinko's extended ankle, and gave it a jerk. Rinko went flying and landed neatly outside the lopsided square Ranma had dug into the ground with his ankle. He'd purposefully made it a little small. It was always easier to get bigger than suddenly confine yourself to a smaller area.  
"Good Ranko, now what did you do wrong?" Ranko frowned at the rebuff, expecting praise instead. Then she frowned in thought and shrugged, "I left myself too open when I threw her?" Rinko nodded, "Yeah, if I'd caught myself, I would have been able to turn around and get ya, maybe even knock you out of the ring." "Right! Now, that makes you two even for the day, so why don't we eat a little lunch? Then I'll work with you each individually for awhile." They squealed in excitement, and Ranma picked one girl up in each arm. They loved it when he worked with them one on one. They may look identical, but their fighting styles were entirely different. Besides, everyone always wadded the two of them up into one bundle, and Ranma was sure they got a more than a little fed up with that after awhile. Everyone wanted to be their own person, and the Art was where his little twins found their differences.  
He spread a blanket with a flick of the wrist and dragged over the pair of baskets they'd brought for the picnic. He opened one to find the girls' thermoses for school, and two plates with a multitude of little containers of food inside. Ranma noted that Akane had packed both girls' favorites, and set that basket between the girls as Ranko licked her lips and Rinko's eyes tripled in size as they waited expectantly.  
They were already digging in when Ranma opened his basket and undid the top frog closure on his shirt. He licked his lips as well at the sight of all of his favorites. Grinning, he dug in as well.  
The three enjoyed their meals as Ranma quizzed the girls on school work and friends to get caught up. As young as they were, they were already attracting unwanted male attention, and Ranma mentally groaned at the thought of having to fight off suitors as the girls grew.  
He was setting aside his now empty basket when Rinko turned and studied the sky behind her. He frowned in confusion and turned to see what had gotten her attention, only then sensing Vegeta's approaching ki. Ranma smiled and gave his a little flare to attract the former Prince's attention. Two tiny specks of light in the distant sky suddenly switched directions and Ranma and the girls waited patiently for Vegeta and Trunks to arrive.  
"Hey Vegeta! How's it going Trunks?" "Fine sir." Trunks landed near the seated Ranma and shot Vegeta a wary glance as the older man landed.  
"Ranma, I see you had the same idea that I did. I'm getting the boy into shape for the tournament. His training has been abysmal up until now, so he'll have to work hard to satisfy me before then." Ranma frowned at his step-father, knowing who most of the Z fighters blamed on Trunk's stunted training. "Yeah, well, we'll let you have the place to yourself in a few. I just wanted to go over a few little things with the girls before we headed home." Vegeta nodded and turned to his son, "Well, c'mon." Taking once more to the air, Vegeta and Trunks had soon reached a safe distance where they could train without the two groups getting in each other's ways.  
Ranma made a mental note to watch for errant ki blasts, and turned back to his daughters as they stood. He helped them pack up the picnic gear, and turned to Ranko, "Why don't you go through some kata for me, while I work with your sister. I'll get to you soon though, promise." He held his right hand up with a solemn expression as she gave him a suspicious study. After a moment she gave a satisfied nod and walked over to work in private.  
"Now," he knelt in front of Rinko, "I want to congratulate you. Have you been practicing sensing ki?" She looked puzzled and shook her head, "No, should I have?" He was startled, but more intrigued than anything. "No, not really, but you sensed Vegeta and Trunks before I did." "Oh, that." She muttered, "I'd know they were coming forever, but I hadn't realized they were getting that close with the last match and all." Huh. Apparently his daughter was a natural at sensing ki. He'd have to look into that; maybe it would be useful.  
"Alright, now here's what I noticed . . ."  
  
The girls landed right on the porch and ran inside to hug their mother, who promptly sent them off for a bath and change of clothes. She then met him in the dining room and sighed.  
"It's a good thing you're back so early, or they wouldn't have any clothes left and they'd just be covered in dirt." Ranma chuckled and gave her a hug, "I know. They were in rare form today, throwing each other around and grinding one another into the dirt." She smiled and looked up at him, "Why are you back so early? I wasn't expecting you three until dinner." He shrugged, "Vegeta showed up with Trunks." He frowned, "He's taking this awfully seriously, you know, like his son and our daughters are competing or something. I guess I got kind of caught up in it too, and I didn't like the idea of him watching the girls and I train." Akane rolled her eyes and headed into the kitchen, "Saiyan men. Chi-chi warned me." Ranma didn't know what she meant, and didn't want too, so he remained silent.]  
  
A/N: alright, there's another chapter. I'm still having issues with where to take this fic. I have my ideas, but there's just soooo much db storyline. From now on, it will be more like the movies, not really fitting into the storyline and all. Well, review please! 


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